The Plot
by KymanLover
Summary: Kyle and Craig have never been friends. It could even be said that they were enemies. But when Craig proposes a seemingly unprovoked truce, what are his true intentions? Eventual CRYLE. R&R? XXX
1. The Truce

**A/N: Hey! So I've decided that I'm going to start my promised Cryle story! There aren't a lot of them compared to other pairings so I'm pretty excited about it, and I hope you enjoy the first chapter! ^.^**

**(Oh, and it's going to be in both POVs, so we get both sides of the story, so yay? :D)**

Kyle

We've always had our problems. It has nearly always been our group versus Craig's. Although it was still obvious we weren't close, it wasn't that bad in elementary school; we didn't always see eye to eye, but occasionally we were all able to talk and work together and things would generally be fine. After that, our two groups became a lot more distant from each other in everyday situations for a while but there was no specific rivalry between us all. That was until high school.

In high school everything changed. Right from the first day, there seemed to be some kind of unspoken agreement of not interacting with the other group. It was quite hard considering the school isn't particularly big and so it was quite tough to stay clear of them all completely, but whenever I would walk past one of them they always seemed to try to avoid eye contact and so I soon found myself doing the same. I couldn't understand why they were doing that and it didn't take me long to realize that my own friends were doing the same thing back to them too. I didn't know if something had happened between them that I was just unaware of and when I asked the guys about it they all just shrugged and said that they didn't have a clue about what I was talking about and that I was probably over analysing things like I always did and so instead of persisting the point I just dropped it because it didn't really seem like that big of a deal anyway.

A while after that had happened, I was meant to be meeting up with Stan, Kenny and Cartman after my best friend was finished with football practice. I had gone to the library to do a bit of extra research for one of my latest school projects whilst Stan was busy playing and Kenny and Cartman had decided to mooch around for a bit. I had stayed a bit longer than I was supposed to because I had lost track of time and so by the time I had realized and gotten myself to the football field the rest of the guys were already there waiting for me. Well, actually they weren't waiting, they were arguing.

I couldn't make out who it was with until I got closer to them all and saw that it was Craig, Clyde and Token standing opposite them. Clyde had tears streaming down his face as he stood shakily next to Craig's side. The noirette's face looked angry as he appeared to be shouting at Stan, their fists clenched. Cartman was repeatedly interjecting and Craig continuously flipped him off as he carried on with his dispute with my best friend. Token just looked irritated as he stood with his arms crossed and glared at my friends whilst Kenny appeared to be doing the same thing back.

I attempted to keep myself hidden because the two groups hadn't noticed me yet and I tried to work out what exactly they were all arguing about, but as I glanced around the area for some kind of clue, I saw a trembling blonde who was seemingly losing his mind by a nearby wall. He was sat down and was shaking violently as he had his hands forced tightly on to his ears whilst he tried to block out the screaming. I considered ignoring him and leaving him there; there probably wasn't much I could do about it and as things seemed to be standing we were probably currently supposed to be enemies, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I slowly made my way over and perched on the ground next to him not knowing how exactly to proceed.

"Tweek?" I reached my hand out and tapped his leg gently.

"Aak! Ky-Kyle? W-what are you doing here?" he screamed, squirming away from me quickly as he saw me there.

"I was meant to be meeting with the guys," I gestured vaguely over to them, "But they look a bit preoccupied right now..."

"W-why are you- gah!- Why are you _h-here_? Why aren't you o-over there?"

"Well you looked like you were freaking out, I wanted to know if you were alright," he seemed to have calmed down a bit since I started talking to him, but he was still shaking as he occasionally looked back out our feuding friends so I was still a bit concerned, "Is there any way I can help?"

"H-help? You want to help me? Arg!- Really?"

"Sure, why wouldn't I?"

"Because... Because we're n-not friends so why would you want help me?"

I thought it over in my head, "I have no idea. I guess I just like to help people, even if they don't really want it," I shrugged my shoulders with a quiet chuckle as I saw Tweek look at me looking a bit more relaxed.

"Oh... But am I going to have to keep it a s-secret from the guys? B-because I'm a terrible liar, that's just- aak!- That's too much pressure...!" he shook his head in panic as he glimpsed at our friends again.

"Tweek, calm down! It isn't a big deal, I just want to make sure you're alright, that's all. I don't know if it would be a good idea to tell them by choice... but if they say something you don't have to deny it," I sighed as I watched his eyes widen in uncertainty before he nodded slowly and moved back next to me.

"W-when are they going to stop fighting?" he whispered quietly.

I looked at the quaking blonde who was still staring back at me and then back to the others, "I don't know... What exactly are they arguing about though? What happened?"

After a few moments of hesitation, he quickly explained all that had happened. Apparently Craig's gang had also gone to meet with Clyde after the boy had finished with practice. Both he and Stan were on the team but even then they didn't speak to each other. Just before they arrived they had seen Clyde crying and so they had run over to see what was happening. He told them that Stan, being the quarterback, had kicked him off of the team for 'being too chubby'. Instantly Craig had gotten pissed off and went to confront the other jock but as he did so Cartman and Kenny had arrived. Tweek had realized that something bad was about to happen and so he had run off leaving the other boys to deal with their own problems because he hated any type of conflict. He had been sitting alone over by the wall we were not next to for about ten minutes before I had made my way over there.

"A-are they not going to stop? Why- ngh!- Why won't they stop?"

"Of course they're going to- Oh _shit_," I jumped up in panic as I saw Craig take his fist and slam it straight into Stan's face.

I felt Tweek grip tightly on to the sleeve of my jacket as he winced at the sudden impact and I pulled him along with me as we ran over to the group. The contact had been so forceful that my best friend was now on the ground and he was clutching at his face in pain. I dropped to my knees next to him and pulled his hands away so that I could take a look at it for myself. His lip had busted open and there was blood trickling out of it and he winced as I scrambled around in my pockets for a tissue and dabbed at it as delicately as I could. I turned around to confront the boy myself but saw that they had taken off in the other direction, Craig having to drag Tweek as the blonde boy glanced back at me, his face petrified.

After that, I don't really remember much of what happened that day. What I do remember, however, is the fact that since then, every encounter I had with any of them was incredibly tense and awkward. I didn't actually see them much anymore; somehow they managed to keep their distance from us, even though we all probably had a lot of classes with each other. Even though I personally hadn't been involved in the whole affair, I was still deemed as included as I was part of the group and so as well as Stan, Cartman and Kenny, I was ignored and avoided. I didn't receive the angry glares or random flip off's though, but I was still classed as a target for their group schemes and plots. It's all Cartman's fault (as per usual); he had decided to 'get even' and so there had been a lot of 'back and forth'-ing of plans to get revenge as each scheme was implemented. They got bigger and more intricate every time, often leaving us anxious when it was the other group's 'turn'.

I'm not quite sure whose turn it is right now. I tried to avoid getting caught up in it all, even though I normally ended up being dragged in to it unnecessarily. I don't see the point; why would I want to be feuding with people I was once friends with over something that wasn't even that big of a deal and that I wasn't actually involved with in the first place? Whenever the guys were trying to think of new ways of getting back at them, I would normally just not bother to show up or if I did I would sit and watch TV whilst they plotted on the other side of the room. It didn't bother me at all, even when they retaliated back to us. I know that they're only reacting because we are doing the same back to them so no matter how I look at it; it's a never ending battle. No one will win, no one will lose, it will just always be a back and forth until the day we all leave this godforsaken town.

Well, that was what I had initially thought before Craig had decided to approach me.

* * *

Craig

I was stood by the wall silently, my head down and deep in thought. I didn't know how to approach the situation at hand; it wasn't something I was used to doing. I'm the guy who has absolutely no feelings and doesn't care about anybody except for those who are in my gang. Or I was supposed to be. It was easier to let people think that then to actually show signs of emotion because that's how you become an easy target. If people find out your weaknesses they will _always_ find a way to use it against you.

No, it's much easier for me to just pretend I don't give crap about anyone or anything than to let people get in my head. I keep my expressions blank, my thoughts rationalized and my actions justified and not out of emotion. That way, I'm always in control of the situation and I always have the advantage. The last time I let down my guard, it almost ruined me. Never again.

"Yeah?"

He was staring at me, his curly red hair escaping his green ushanka as he sat under that tree of his, on the hill alone. He often sat there when he wanted to be left in quiet so he could concentrate on reading or doing work or whatever else he wanted to do there. A long time ago he had claimed it as 'his' tree, carving his name into the bottom of it. Nobody ever attempted to go over there because they knew better than to attempt to get into an argument with Kyle. He's feisty; he won't give up an argument easily and is very skilled in getting his own way, as well as being pretty good in actual physical confrontations. Not that he often got in them; the only person that was usually on the other side of his anger was Cartman, but that didn't stop them from being friends. I've never understood that.

"Craig?"

"What?"

He raised his eyebrow at me, "What do you want?"

"Huh?" I was confused for a moment before I realized that whilst I was lost in my own thoughts I had subconsciously made my way over so that I was now standing about five feet in front of him.

Kyle was still staring at me with those big green eyes of his, a look of confusion and slight irritation on his face. He had been reading and now he had the book closed and placed on the ground whilst he had his arms folded waiting for a response. I had completely forgotten what exactly I had been there for, however, and so I just stood there and stared back at him for a while. His eyes narrowed as he realized my silence and he looked around suspiciously before looking back at me.

"What do you want, Craig?" he repeated.

"I... Er..." my mind was still blank as I tried to formulate something to say. Damn it, this wasn't like me; I usually knew exactly what I wanted to say and when, so why couldn't I think of anything to say at that moment?

"Am I about to be on the other side of one of your stupid schemes now?" he still looked irritated as his fingers drummed on his leg impatiently.

Ah, that's why I was there, "No. I came to say-"

"Kahl?" Cartman voice could be heard from across the school grounds, "Why are you talking to that asshole?"

My head whipped around in surprise as I heard him; if I was still there by the time he got over here he'd probably end up trying to cut my balls off, so I had to say what I wanted to tell Kyle quickly, "Truce?"

I thrust my hand forward as I quickly glanced at the fat boy charging his way over to us and Kyle looked at it sceptically before looking back at my face, "What? Why?"

"Just," I wasn't prepared to go into the details, I just needed him to agree to it.

He still looked doubtful, but as he stood up from his spot on the grass and lifted his hand slowly, I grabbed hold of it, shook it pretty forcefully and then darted off before he had a chance to question my actions.

Yep, so far, so good.

* * *

**A/N: So hey again guys! It's been a while, but now I'm fully prepared to jump in to writing a new full length story! It's in first person so it's out of my usual writing 'comfort zone' so bare with me if I occasionally use 'he' instead of 'I' or something :P**

**So, yeah, there isn't much to say without giving too much away yet, however I really would appreciate if you maybe left some follows and reviews :) I know nothings actually happened yet really, but it'd be nice to know if I had some initial support :D**

**And the image I've used for the cover I found on google or tumblr or something ages ago, so I don't remember who drew it, but hopefully they don't mind me using it? :)**

**Much Love ^.^**

**XXX**


	2. The Bet

Kyle

"Kahl? Why are you talking to that asshole?" I saw the fat ass making his way over to us, an angry look on his face as he realized who I was talking to.

"Truce?" As he towered over me and pushed his hand forward into my face, I felt confused.

A truce? Why would he want a truce? Was it a trick? He looked pretty serious- but then again, it was Craig; he nearly always looked like that. He probably recognized my scepticism as he hesitated when I asked him why. I don't see why he thinks 'just' is an answer, but before I had a chance to ask him again I had already stood up, he had grabbed at my hand, shaken it violently and then run off in the other direction.

"What the hell?" I whispered to myself quietly as I watched him disappear around a corner.

I sighed heavily and was about to sit back down before I saw Cartman standing in front of me, his eye brows knitted as he frowned at me, "What was that all about? Why did you shake his hand?"

"Well hello to you too," I frowned back, rolling my eyes as I leaned my back against the tree with my arms folded across my chest, "No, it's alright, you can just come storming over here and scare people away, it's cool."

"Don't play games with me, Kahl! Why were you talking to him?" he had a look of alarm and annoyance on his face which made me chuckle lightly, "This isn't funny!"

"Why are you getting so worked up? Who I talk to has got nothing to do with you, it's not your problem, " I shrugged my shoulders casually as I could see him getting more worked up; it's fun being the one winding him up for once, usually it's the other way around.

"When it's Craig or any of those other dicks it is! Are they plotting something?"

"No."

"Then what did he want?" he looked at me curiously before he frowned again, "You're not on their side are you? You sneaky Jew rat!"

"I'm not on 'their side', Cartman. In fact, there aren't sides anymore, I guess."

"What? What's that meant to mean?"

"He said he wants a truce," I shrugged again as I slowly slid my back down the tree until I was sitting back on the ground, blindly reaching for my book as I analysed the look of confusion on the fat boy's face.

"And... you accepted? What the hell, Kahl...!" he dropped down onto his knees next to me, his hand held around his chin as he stopped looking annoyed and turned it into a look of deep concentration, "This is a trap. They're plotting something. I'm sure of it. Why else would they do that...? What the _fuck_ are they planning...?"

I rolled my eyes at him as I flicked back through the pages off my book trying to find where I had last been. I hadn't bothered to mark the page at all and so I was pretty preoccupied with looking for it whilst my fat friend was mumbling to himself angrily and so I only gave the occasional 'Mm' or 'Maybe'. It took me a while to find the page actually, it turns out I had read a lot more than I thought I had, which I guess was pretty good. When I eventually found it and lifted my head up, I realized that Cartman was now texting rapidly. I assumed that he was just telling Stan and Kenny about what had happened and so I sighed quietly before continuing to read. It was a pretty good book actually; it was all about some guy who had lost everything; his house, his friends, his family and his lover and so he teamed up with an ex cop to find a way to pull off some of the biggest art and jewel heists possible-

"Kahl!"

"What the fuck do you want?" I slammed the book back together in annoyance and then got even more frustrated when I realized I didn't memorize the page number.

"We need you to go undercover for us," he was staring at me with that specific twinkle in his eyes he only got when he was plotting something, "That truce crap was bullshit, they're probably just trying to find a way of getting into our heads. If they've chosen you as their target, you can get on the inside and make their plan backfire."

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, he actually _does_ want to make peace?" I replied sarcastically, leaning my head on my fist.

"No. He's a fucking asshole and he's plotting something. First we need to work out how exactly you're going to-"

"Wait a second, who said I'm actually doing it? I've told you guys already, I'm not getting involved in your petty arguments."

"No, Kahl, the arguments _you and I_ have on a regular basis are petty. This shit... This is war,"

I raised my eyebrow at his first comment but nearly burst out laughing at his second, "Are you being serious?"

"I am being totally fucking seriously, Kahl! They are not going to beat us! I know a plot when I see one, it's what I do best," he shrugged his shoulders moodily.

He was indeed being 'seriously'; his face was stern as he stared at me, waiting for a response, "I guess I can't argue with you there... But what exactly would I have to do? I'm not just going to go and accuse him of something he might not have even done."

"Well, obviously you're not going to do that. We don't get anything if you do that; then there's no point and we've lost out on a golden opportunity. No, for this to benefit us, we're going to have to implement some espionage."

"Espionage?" I grimaced as I saw him begin to get that twinkle back in his eye again; this probably wasn't going to end well.

He stood up quickly and started pacing back and forth in front of me, muttering loudly with his arms flailing as he tried to formulate a plan. I paid no attention to it all, I was more concerned with the fact that somehow I'd just been dragged into a feud I actually had no business being in.

"Why do I have to do it?" I mumbled quietly, probably more to myself than to Cartman but he heard me and cocked his eyebrow.

He looked contemplative for a moment as he thought it over, "Hmm... Why you?" he bent down and stared at my face for a while as I glanced back at him starting to feel a bit uncomfortable, "Why... you...?"

"Dude, can you stop staring at me...?" I let out a sigh as he turned away and continued to pace.

"Yep, this is definitely some kind of scheme. I knew it," a smug smirk danced on his lips as he glanced around and then stuffed his hands back in his pockets, his mind appearing to be back in thought.

"What? How do you know that; what's it got to do with me?"

"Kahl, I'm going to be honest with you," I already didn't like where this appeared to be going, but I didn't stop him, "You are our weakest link. You are too naive and nice for your own good. As much as I hate to admit it, those guys are pretty damn smart. Well, smart enough to know that if they want to get dirt on us you're going to be the one who's most likely going to cave and give it to them, anyway."

"Screw you, fat boy! There's no such thing as being too nice, you're just a self centred bastard, that's all!" I glared at him as he just shook his head at me, his arrogant grin still on his face.

"But think about it, if he really wanted a truce with us, it would be with all of us, not just you. If anything, he would probably go to Stan and tell him seeing as it was his problem in the first place-"

"Exactly; but you just jumped in where you weren't involved..." I growled quietly.

He raised his eyebrow but continued, "And so because he went to you, he's obviously on some other hidden agenda."

"Well, how do you know he isn't going to all of us and I just happened to be the first one of us he saw?"

"Because when he saw me coming he ran off like the little pussy he is. If he was making a truce with all of us he would have stuck around," he shrugged his shoulders like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"No, because you're an asshole; why would he want to befriend _you_? He'll probably still go to Kenny and Stan and then I'll prove you wrong."

"Do you really wanna bet that, Jew?" there was another glimmer in his eye as he grinned down at me; not his plotting smile, but his 'I just beat Kyle' smile. Cocky bastard.

"Fine," I scrambled to my feet and glared back up at him as he put his hand out for me to shake, "You're on, fat ass."

* * *

Craig

As I hurriedly made my around the corner and out of sight of Kyle, I let out a quiet sigh of relief. I don't know why I had been so on edge about the whole thing, it's not like he had any idea about what I was doing. I mean, he won't find out I had anything to do with the whole thing even when it all comes to fruition. It's best that way.

I pushed my hands into my pockets and strolled around for a while, contemplating what I had just gotten myself into. I couldn't turn back now; that would raise too much suspicion and leave too many unanswered questions. No, now it just had to be completed and it had to be done swiftly, there was no time to stop and think about all the details and all the various people it was inevitably going to affect, I just had to get it done.

"Bro, get over here!" I saw Clyde waving at me from across the hall, standing next to our lockers.

A while back I had convinced the random geeky kid whose locker was meant to be next to Clyde's that it was 'for the best' if we swapped so I could go there and he had agreed with little hesitation. He looked so scared that he I thought he was going to shit his pants when I suggested it; I don't know why, it was a perfectly normal question, I don't see why it was so daunting for him. According to Token it's because I'm 'a bit' intimidating when it comes to people who don't already know me, but I think that's just a load of crap. I'm intimidating to people who already know me too. I pride myself on it, actually.

As I made myself over to my friend I saw a wide smile on his face, as he rummaged around in the back of his locker, "What?"

"Guess what I found in here a while ago?"

"What did you find?"

"Guess!"

His apparent enthusiasm for this mystery item didn't rub off on me as I just stared back blankly, "I don't know. What did you find?"

He pouted his lips at me childishly as he pulled something out, "Look!"

I stared at his hands curiously as I saw him open them in front of me, "Oh. A broken rubber band. That's nice, Clyde."

"It's not just _any_ broken rubber band, that's the broken rubber band you gave to me back when I left the football team. Isn't that cool?" he pushed it into my hands as he threw a few more books into his bag and slammed the locker door shut.

I cringed slightly as I suddenly realized what he was talking about. Back when Clyde had 'left' the team, he had been so upset for days and it had really started to piss me off. Every few moments he'd start sniffling or just burst into tears completely and it would take ages to calm him back down. He was like a chick in the way that he was constantly being emotional and acting like a freaking hormonal bitch about everything. It took all the self control I had to not slap him most of the time. But I guess if I'm going to have to label him, he's my best friend. I treat him like shit but he just shrugs it off and continues being his cheerful self, which is good. Well, when he's not crying that is. That's why I had to get him to stop.

I had gotten him the rubber band and wrapped it around his wrist and told him that whenever he wanted to cry he should just pull on it and when it goes back and stings him he should remember that he has no reason to cry and so he should stop and then I told him that if I saw him crying I was going to kick his ass and it would hurt a lot more than a rubber band would.

Okay, so I know that sounds harsh, but it totally worked. He never really cried much after that, well not around me anyway, and whenever it seemed like he was about to I'd see him pull on it and then calm himself down a bit. He carried on using that as a release until one day it snapped. I had been next to him at the time and I stared at him curiously. For a moment he looked like he was going to start crying again, but instead he just took a deep breath, muttered something to himself, pinched his arm and then carried on like nothing happened. See, all in all what I did was probably one of the best things I could have done for him so even though it was a bit unorthodox, it ended up being well justified.

"Yeah, cool," I shrugged my shoulders as I attempted to open my own locker.

"You totally had my back back then bro," he continued to beam as he patted me on the back happily.

"I still do have your back," I muttered nonchalantly as I hunted for my books for my afternoon classes.

"Yeah and I have yours buddy," he threw his arm around my shoulders as I shut my locker and we started walking down the hall together.

"Get off of me, Clyde."

"Aw, are you too grumpy for a bro hug today?" before I could even respond, I felt him pull me into a tight hug as I just stood there awkwardly, not making any attempt to hug back.

"Clyde, get off of me."

"Cool, bro, I've got to go anyway, but I'll see you later, right?" he was still smiling as he let go, waved and started walking in the other direction, once again not really waiting for a response from me.

I swear I could tell that kid to shoot himself in the head ten dozen times and he'd probably still walk away from the conversation with a shit eating grin on his face. It's really annoying actually, it means that when I get angry at him for something I can't even stay that way for long because getting him upset nowadays is a pretty hard task and so I can't really be bothered with it. I guess it's a good thing really, but it still pisses me off.

As I walked through the bustling halls of the school, I kept my head down as I tried to refocus my thoughts on the whole 'Kyle' situation. I didn't actually know what my next stage of action was and I had nobody to consult as this was a lone mission. Every plan I had formulated so far seemed to have some drastic flaw in it that made me have to start all over again. It was starting to drive me insane.

* * *

**A/N: Wassup? **

**So I still don't have much to say here... Hmm... How's life? :P**

**No, but seriously, I'm looking forward to writing the rest of this story, I have lots of ideas swirling around my head but I don't know how I'm going to fit them all in to this. I actually don't really have much of a plan actually, so I'm hoping that I'll get one together soon enough, but then again plans are boring, spontaneity is much more fun... :)**

**Also, any reviews you have are welcomed, encouraged and appreciated, thanks :D**

**^.^ XXX**


	3. The Project

Craig

Home Economics. What a bunch of fucking donkey crap.

I can't believe we all got suckered into having to take this stupid class. All we do is sit here and get lectured on random ways of making sure our lives don't turn out as crappy as our parents' are. All the same random and crazy stuff is going to happen; it always does in this town, so I don't see why learning how to cook and clean will ever help in those situations.

As well as the fact that the actual stuff we are meant to be learning is complete bullshit, we always get given pairs assignments to do and it sucks because none of my gang is in this specific class. We all have to do it, they just do it at a different time. I hate working as part of a pair because it means that I have to actually socialize with people that i normally wouldn't want to. It's not something I enjoy. Far from it. That's why I was so pissed off when I heard the teacher say we were working in twos again.

And do you know who I normally get paired with? Kevin fucking Stoley. We get to choose our own partners, but because I hate most people in this class, I just wait until everybody has a partner and then go with the person left over. But it's _always_ Kevin; he's just so annoying that nobody can deal with being his partner. And he's oblivious. That's what annoys me. He doesn't have a fucking clue. His mind is always elsewhere and so he doesn't even realize that I don't actually _want_ to be with him and that I'm being pretty much forced to. The only reason I put up with him is solely because he's pretty smart when it comes to down to it all and he does all the work for me so I can just relax, but what does annoy me is that he's still obsessed with Star Wars stuff and he acts like such a child sometimes that I want to just push him off a cliff and see if his freaking light saber can save him then.

The last time we had a project together we had left it until the last minute and so after ages of me trying to think of an excuse to keep him as far away as possible, I ended up having to let him stay over at my house so we could complete it. Leaving it until late happened quite a lot actually, considering that I don't bother to help out earlier and so there's normally lots of stuff still left to do before it's due in. I hated having him in my house, but I would have hated going to his even more; he brought so much Star Wars crap with him anyway, if I went to his house I probably would have burn it all down to survive the night.

Which is funny considering he nearly did that to mine. Yes, you heard that right. Kevin Stoley nearly burned my house down. That might be a bit dramatic, but it's still true. What had happened was that he had decided to get up in the middle of the night after we'd been working for about four hours straight and had only just settled down to go to sleep so that he could go and make some food. I guess he'd just been lurking around my kitchen in his Luke Skywalker pajamas and for whatever reason he'd decided that he wanted to make toast. And then moments later the fire alarm in my house was going off. My parents were screaming at me through the walls, my little sister ran to my room crying and I just slowly made my way down to the kitchen, frowning at the boy standing there (It occurred to me that if my house actually _was_ in the middle of a serious fire, we'd all be burnt to a crisp within seconds). He looked dazed when he saw me, obviously oblivious to the alarm or the amount of smoke that was now coming out of the toaster.

"Your toaster takes ages to make toast, Craig."

I wanted to slap him. He had woken my whole house up because he was too dumb to realize that the toaster wasn't going to come up on its own and that you needed to click on a button. But I was too tired. Looking back on it, I wish I had slapped him actually. Right in his half-chink face. With a heavy frying pan.

"No it doesn't. You need to eject it yourself, it doesn't pop up automatically."

"Oh... Right!" he ran over to it and pressed the button to make it come up.

He quickly dropped it because of the heat but after a few seconds of staring at it on the floor, he picked it back up and went over to one of the draws to find a knife. The fact that he knew where all the stuff in my house was really annoyed me. But not as much as what he did next.

"Craig look!" he took the knife and made a few carvings into the incinerated piece of toast and then lifted it up to his face, his voice deep as he spoke, "_I am your father_."

I stared at him blankly for a few moments, the smell of smoke still surrounding my kitchen. He walked around in front of me with the piece of 'Darth Vader' toast held to his face as he laughed to himself. I really, really should have hit him with that damn frying pan. But I didn't. Instead I just flipped him off and walked back up the stairs, tucked Ruby back into her bed and then went back to sleep in my own. I think that was the only way I would have been able to restrain myself from killing him.

And the thing is that the whole assignment was to do with being safe around the home. And we got a freaking B.

As I sat in my chair, leaning back as far as I could on the hind legs so that I was still balanced, I crossed my arms and stared over at Kevin who was on the other side of the room. He was scribbling notes about whatever our bitch of teacher was talking about. Good, that meant I could just sit back and relax for a while. I sit at the back of the room for this class and I also sit on my own so there's nobody to disturb me or piss me off. It's great until we get paired up and I have Kevin yapping in my ear for however long the duration of the assignment is.

I closed my eyes as I continued to rock on my chair, only catching snippets of what the teacher was saying as I tried to focus my mind on other things. She was saying something about being healthy and food and stuff. I assumed that was all I needed to know and drifted off into my own thoughts about things.

Like how-

"Hey, Craig."

The voice coming from above me startled me to a point where I lost my balance and came crashing down onto the floor. Without even looking up, I flipped him off and started standing up slowly, grabbing on to his out stretched hand as I started dusting off my jeans. I glanced around the room and saw a few people had started sniggering, but as soon as they saw me looking back at them they quickly stopped and resumed what they were doing.

As I surveyed the room, however, something caught my attention. It was Kevin. He was on the other side of the room to where I was. As I looked back at the person in front of me who was still gripping onto my hand tightly, I stared blankly as I realized who it was.

Kyle Broflovski.

I didn't even know that he knew we were even in the same class in the first place, to be honest. After avoiding each other for most our school lives, I guess I had just become used to the fact that we seemed to just attempt to not even acknowledging each others' existence. Well, I noticed his, even though I didn't particularly want to, but he never showed any signs of ever seeing me there, so it wasn't ever a problem. At that moment he was standing with his books gripped tightly in one of his hands, supported against his chest as he stared back at me for a moment before offering me a weak smile.

"What do you want, Broflovski?" I asked him sternly, pulling my hand away as I picked up my chair and sat back down.

"Do you want to be partners?" he still had a small smile on his face as he stood waiting for my response.

"No."

The smile disappeared; "I thought we were cool now?"

"We are. But…" As I struggled to come up with an excuse as to why we couldn't work together, I glanced back around the room, "But I'm partners with Kevin. Sorry."

"Kevin's with Butters."

I cursed under my breath before turning back to the redhead, "Why?"

"Because I asked him if I could work with you."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because," he pulled out the chair in the empty desk next to mine and perched on it, "I want us to be friends now."

I frowned. What was he trying to do? I only said we were at a truce; him actually _wanting_ to talk to _me_ was never part of the original plan. I obviously didn't think this through very well. But there didn't seem to be any way out of it.

"Fine, we can work together," I shrugged my shoulders as he nodded his head and pushed his notes in front of me.

They were much more detailed than Kevin's usually were. They were all bullet pointed with lots of random lines and annotation coming off of them as he wrote about what it meant and what it required. No wonder he always did so well.

My eyes scanned over each of the main points as I tried to work out what the actual task was. I quickly worked out that we had to find a way of promoting healthy food and snacks for when we are at home but apart from being based on that the rest of it was all up to us to do. What the hell we were going to do with it I had no idea, but hopefully I could leave that all to Kyle and I wouldn't even have to intervene with it at last minute. That way, avoiding talking too much with him wouldn't be too hard. Sweet.

* * *

Kyle

He fell off his chair when he heard me next to him. It was absolutely hilarious, but I kept myself restrained to avoid laughing. If I was going to win this stupid bet with Cartman and successfully complete my 'espionage', I was going to have to make sure I stayed on Craig's good side until he had a chance to make peace with Stan and Kenny. Because he was going to. I was not going to lose that bet, there was no fucking way.

I can still see the fat boy's smug grin in my head as his arrogant laugh rings out in my ears. The stakes were high. If I was right about Craig making a truce because he actually wanted to make peace with us all, Cartman was going to have to give me one hundred bucks and stop insulting me completely; every time he did so he'd have to pay me another ten dollars for each one. I would be amazingly rich by at least the end of the week. But if the fat ass won… I'd have to suck his balls.

Don't judge me. I know I'm an absolute idiot for taking that risk, but he just looked so conceited and it was seriously pissing me off and so as soon as he mentioned it I had agreed to it without even paying attention to what he had said. I obviously immediately regretted it, but there was nothing I could do at that point. I was not, under any circumstances, going to ask to change the wager; he'd take that as a sign of me admitting I was going to lose and I wasn't going to give him that satisfaction. I was just going to have to stick it out and make sure that things happen the way I want them to, even if that means I have to get involved myself.

Oh, and do you know what the fat ass laughed and said before I left to get to class?: "Don't forfeit or attempt to change Craig's mind in the rare chance that you're actually right, Kahl. I'm not giving you a free pass; When you're sucking my balls it'll be more pleasurable for you if you know you lost fair and square," I wanted to kick his fucking teeth in.

As the thoughts swirled around in my head, I glanced over at Craig to see him equally deep in thought as we sat silently next to each other. He had been pretty hesitant when I offered to work with him; I took that as a good sign. If he wanted to make a truce with me so that he could find out all our secrets and stuff he'd probably jump at the chance to work with me just so he'd have an excuse to talk to me. I mean, that's why _I_ chose to work with _him_; I want to get close enough that he'll trust me and tell me what this whole thing is actually about.

"So…" I started to speak but he didn't really seem to be paying attention, "What do you think? Have you got any ideas?"

"I need rethink it all…" he now had his elbows up on the table as he laid his head on his fists, his vacant eyes staring off in the direction of the window.

"What? Craig?" I still got no response so I tapped him gently, "Craig? What do you think we should focus on for our project?"

"Huh?" I appeared to wake up from his trance as he blinked a few times, flicked his head so a few strands of his jet black hair were out of his eyes and then his dark blue eyes stared back at me, "I… Er… I don't care really. I'm guess I'm cool with whatever you want to do."

I rolled my eyes as he turned his head back away and got lost in his own thoughts again. This was going to be harder than I thought.

* * *

**A/N: So Kyle's bet with Cartman was a big shocker wasn't it *sarcastically laughs***

**Yeah, I thought it might be funny. Plus it's meant to be something Kyle really doesn't want to do (no matter how much the fat boy insists that he does) and so I just threw it in there. It'll probably be a recurring thing to keep Kyle on track as the story progresses.**

**Who do you think is going to win the bet guys? Because right now, it could swing either way!**

**I love Kevin. So much.**

**Darth Vader toast FTW.**

**Oh, and the next chapter will be different to these, I'll be introducing a new character POV.**

**Look out guys, it could be slightly epic. Or a complete fail. Probably the latter.**

**Oh well.**

**Please Review! **

**^.^ XXX**


	4. The Third Party

Ike

If I'm to continue, you'd better swear that the information I share with you stays classified. Because I have secrets. And a lot of them. But I don't just have my own secrets. No, I have everybody's secrets.

I am Ike Broflovski, that 'freaky genius kid' who skipped about six years of school.

I'm currently in the year below Kyle at school, and I intend to keep it that way. I could easily get moved up again so that we were in the same and if I actually put some effort in I could probably even jump another year on top of that, but why would I want to do that? That'll put me in the 'big brother' position in the eyes of my parents and I don't need that. All that means is more responsibility and more chores. Pass. I'll leave all that to Kyle.

My older brother has taught me most of what is important for me to know to survive in my home and in this town. I know:

1) Pissing my mother off is _very_ easy to do and _very_ difficult to deal with. So general avoidance is key.

2) Being smart is great for parents who care so much about academia. The pressure that comes with it; not so much.

3) When crazy stuff happens, be the one with the level head, because if you're not, you're much more likely to get the town destroyed due to everyone else being complete idiots.

4) Don't underestimate the power of being cute. I might not have giant puppy dog eyes like Kyle does, but I can easily wrap my parents around my little finger when I have to. I might not act like it, but I am still a little kid after all.

5) If you're nice to people, even if you can't stand them, it'll pay off eventually.

6) But when the fat ass comes knocking on your door, close it, lock it and then don't open it again.

But I guess I haven't really learnt point number 6 very well.

I am, in its most simplest form, a detective. The job comprises of a lot more than just 'looking for clues', but the intricate ins and outs of my business isn't something I like to go into with people that aren't a part of the process.

All you need to know is that I benefit greatly by finding out dirt about people. Whether that's for my own gain or someone else's, at the end of the day, I cash in.

You see, when I first started showing signs of academic promise, my teachers couldn't deal with me. I'd ask questions that even their minds couldn't comprehend and so they'd recommend I got bumped up to the higher grade. The higher I climbed, the harder it was to find friends. I was lonely. Don't pity me; I didn't care that much. I still had my other friends who I'd just meet up with when I have time after school, although I'm usually too busy anyway. But the only thing that bothered me was the fact that although I was used to being the odd one out, it didn't stop people from trying to pick on me. At first I just tried to let it slide, I didn't have time to stoop to their level, but eventually it annoyed me so much I tried to find a way to stop it all.

Obviously my physique was a lot smaller than theirs and so a physical confrontation wasn't the best idea in the world, but unlike most of them I had a lot of smarts.

I spent time finding out information about them and then used it against them until they left me alone. You may call it blackmail; I call it almost fool proof self defense.

I would have left it at that if the same people hadn't come back asking me to do the same again for them to use against someone else. Somehow more and more people came asking for help, but when things leaked nobody would suspect it was me. I think a few times people have pointed the finger in my direction, but as I've already stated, being the cute little kid pays off. Especially as customers would pay big money for my services and so soon enough I had enough of a business to get other people on board. I hired workers; spy's if you will. They went and got all the information they could whilst I sat back and dealt with the analytical side of things; working out what it all meant, how it could be used, that kind of stuff. It was pretty easy sometimes, but at other times it was extremely hard. Some people leave a lot of evidence, others don't. Its how these things work.

But I always have and always will find the dirt.

I have customers who come and go; get what they want and leave without looking back, probably too scared of getting caught. But then I have the repeat clientele. The ones who turn straight to me when they need something because they know I won't let them down.

Eric Cartman was one of those people. And he still is.

Don't be so quick to judge me, I know he and my brother have their problems, but to be honest most of the times I've worked with the fat boy Kyle has known all about it. Not always, but most times.

But business is business.

Like on this specific occasion, Kyle didn't know about it. And apparently it had to stay that way.

"I need your help," he had turned up at our house straight after school and as the words passed his lips I beckoned him away from my front door and around into the back garden.

In our garden, there are many things. There's a tree. It's fun to climb when you want to get away from it all. And it has a swing. I was going to build a tree house up there actually, but I didn't. Instead I converted our shed into my own little office space. It stands quietly at the back of the garden, far away from the house so that I'm not disturbed. My parents assume that I use it to do homework which isn't a complete lie, but it's much more frequently used as my base of operations.

As I opened the door and allowed him in in front of me, I nodded towards the chair that was sat in front of my desk. He obediently took his place there and waited patiently for me to find a blank piece of paper and a pen and then sit in the seat across from him.

"Is Kyle here yet?"

"No, he went to a friend's house or something. I would have assumed you would be there too."

"Good. I don't need him barging in on us; all this has got to stay between me and you, okay?"

"Fine. So what do you want today?" my eyebrow arched as he glanced at the door, probably still anxious that Kyle would come rushing in at some point.

"I don't need any actual information this time… I just need you to… observe."

"Observe what exactly?" I raised my eyebrow at him again as he seemed to be carefully thinking it over in his head.

"I need to know what Craig's plotting, but I don't need anybody to go under cover for me, I've already got someone for that-" he smirked as he saw me frown at him, "Don't worry, I haven't turned to a 'rival company'; it's your brother."

"My brother? As in my brother, Kyle? You're on the same side for this?" they may spend a lot of time together, but they certainly didn't have equal views when it came to all this undercover intelligence stuff so I was skeptical, and rightly so.

"Well…" another small smirk danced on his lips, "Not exactly…" he crossed his arms as he leaned back into the chair.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means, we made a bet."

"Fucking idiot…" I mumbled to myself, aiming it at the non-present Kyle. Whenever these things happened, it never ended well and I usually got stuck in the middle somehow.

"However… That doesn't mean I trust him. He's still a sneaky little Jew rat and I don't want Kahl making Craig like the hippy and the poor kid; I need you to step in if he tries anything and stop him from swaying Craig's original thoughts."

"Wait... What exactly is the situation you're in?" I put my index finger up to him for a moment, gesturing him to wait whilst I noted down a few notes about what he's already said and then ushered him to carry on.

As he explained the circumstances to me, I occasionally nodded my head to let him know I was still paying attention whilst I scribbled quickly. Just as he usually did, he refused to tell me what the stakes of the bet were because he didn't want me to choose sides. Although Kyle was my brother, business was still business. I couldn't let anything cloud my judgment. I just had to get the job done.

As I scanned back over my notes once he had finished speaking, I crunched a few numbers in my head and raised my eyebrows at the fat boy, "This isn't going to be cheap, Cartman."

He sighed with a slight frown on his face, "How much?"

"Well… Observing is pretty dangerous, there's a high risk of getting caught. Plus I'm going to have to be even more vigilant if I'm keeping this all hidden from Kyle. And if it's Craig Tucker… that's going to be difficult."

"You've done it before."

"Exactly. Which means it's a lot harder to keep my people under cover. If I use the same people too often he'll get suspicious."

"I don't care about the details, Ike. Just tell me how much you want."

"Fifty bucks," I know it seemed like a lot, but to get a good deal you need to know how to play these things.

"What? Hell no! I only paid ten last time!"

"That was because you only one piece of basic information. This is a lot more complicated."

"I'll give you twenty, how about that?"

"Forty."

He frowned as he cursed under his breath before mumbling, "Twenty five, final offer."

"I think you're forgetting that you can't do this without me, Cartman. You need my help, if you're being honest with yourself you know you don't really have the option to walk out on me, whether you like it or not. So because you are such a good customer, I'll give you a good deal. Thirty five bucks, done and dusted," I smiled smugly as I saw his scowl increase.

"I keep forgetting you're a greedy ass Jew like your brother," he continued to mutter obscenities to himself as he fished around in his pocket, "Here."

He slammed seventeen dollars in front of me and glared at me. I picked it up, checked it for counterfeits (you'd be surprised how many people think they can get away with that crap with me) and placed it in my pocket. I work on a pay half now, pay the rest when the job is done basis; it makes people more willing to co-operate instead of trying to get all my information and run off without paying.

I walked over to my filing cabinet and pulled out a thick folder before returning to my seat. It was stuffed full of scrap pieces of paper with scribbled notes all over them from previous work, but there wasn't much else that could be of any use to me. I sighed as I put it back and opened my laptop.

As I waited for it to load, I saw Cartman grumpily staring out of the small window at the side of the shed with his arms folded and his brows furrowed.

"Stop sulking, you'll get what you want eventually and it'll all be worthwhile."

He raised his eyebrow as he turned back to face me, "It'd better be. I want proof he's planning something as well, not just 'feedback'. I want a picture or a recording or something that I can use against them. Both."

"Have I ever let you down?" I chuckled lightly as I scrolled through my database to find 'T'.

As I reached Tucker, I opened up his case file. There were lots more notes about anything previous I'd found about him, but there weren't much. Craig was one of the hardest marks I'd ever had. He rarely did anything that was worth documenting; if you wanted to get to him it was much better to go through his friends as they were the only ones that on ever so rare occasion saw the slightest bit of emotion from him. But when he did show signs, I found out about it.

"It says here that the last thing he got worked up about was when his guinea pig died?"

"Oh yeah! That was absolutely hilarious!"

"That wasn't cool Cartman," I sighed as I reminisced about the occurrence.

"Yes it was! He was absolutely shitting himself and he took time off of school and everything!"

"He really loved that guinea pig though… You can't just kill someone's guinea pig and expect for him to not retaliate... I would have totally kicked your ass if I were him."

"He did; do you not remember when he pushed us down the stairs?"

"No, what happened?" I hadn't heard that part of the story.

"We were all like ripping on him for being so upset and stuff and so he just kind of attacked us all from behind and we fell down the stairs," he shrugged nonchalantly, "It didn't stop him from being a emo bitch about it all though."

"When was that?" I began typing more information into my digital file for Craig.

"Just after all the guinea pig crap happened. It wasn't that bad though, I just grazed my arms and legs a bit, but my wrist did hurt for a while aferwards. Stan only had one or two scratches on him, the lucky asshole, and Kenny… I don't really remember what happened to him…" he pondered the thought before shaking his head in disinterest, "Whatever. It can't have been that big of a deal."

"But… What about Kyle? He didn't say anything to me about that."

"He wasn't there. I think he was in the library or some shit. I don't know or particularly care to be honest," he snorted.

"Fine," I rolled my eyes and searched the file for my list of affiliates.

My affiliates, my worker bees, my spies, my hunters, my loyal subjects. Whatever you want to call them. They are what keep this business moving smoothly. I have them all dotted around school and all over town; dealing with the gathering part of the job. They are very skilled at it too and so it's hard to say who my best one is. All I can say is that I really do value their services, even if their pay doesn't reflect that. Most of them work off of favors; I do something for them, they work for me when and where I need them. A few of them work because of blackmail, but I rarely use them because the closer I let them in on the jobs, the less likely they'll be threatened by whatever I'm holding them by. And occasionally, I've actually paid a few. Not often; it's a rare occurrence, but sometimes there are just some specific qualities you need your employees to have that your on hand ones just don't possess.

Each person I had had already had some kind of connection to staking out Craig (that alone tells you how often Cartman turns for my help) and so I was going to have to start reusing people. I reached for my cell phone and began to call the first person that came to mind.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's Ike."

"Oh hey, Ike! What's up?"

"You have an out-standing favor that I need to cash in."

* * *

**A/N: It's Ike!**

**Yay! I love him, he's adorable. And apparently a master spy too. Hehe. I hope I wrote this well.**

**So I guess now there are three different plots revolving around in this story; Craig's, Kyle's and Cartman and Ike's. Although we don't really know much about Craig's yet… Hmm… Hopefully it won't get too confusing anyway :P**

**Thank you for all the reviews so far, they make me happy :) and I'd love to know your opinions on this chapter too!**

**^.^**

**XXX**


	5. The Touch

Kyle

He had been pretty much silent all afternoon. He avoided all eye contact, sat as far away as possible and the best amount of conversation I could get out of him were a few 'yes' or 'no' answers and all questions that couldn't be answered by those two answers rewarded me with a shrug of the shoulders or a quiet grunt.

It had really started to annoy me. I know he might still feel a bit awkward around me because of all the rivalry stuff, but he was the one who had seemed so eager to make the truce, so I didn't understand why he was acting so distant now.

"Craig? Are you alright?'

"Yes."

I sighed quietly. School was over now and we were walking out of the building together. He was walking quickly, his hands pushed deeply into his pockets and his head bent down. I hurriedly followed behind him, trying not to lose him in the blur of other students. I wasn't completely sure, but it felt like he was purposely trying to get away from me. I was pestering him a lot, so probably.

"Then why won't you talk to me?"

"I dunno," he mumbled as he pushed through the front doors and practically ran towards the front gates.

"How can you not know?"

He opened his mouth slightly as he was about to speak, but quickly closed it again as he just turned back around and continued speedily walking away.

"Dude, slow down; why are you in such a hurry?" I asked as I continued to try to keep up with him.

"I want to get home," he shrugged his shoulders and refused to look in my direction, but he did slow down his pace a little.

I walked up so that I was on level with him again. We had made it quite a distance away from the school due to Craig's little 'mad dash' and so now we were walking down a silent sidewalk that seemed void of any other signs of life. I hadn't been around that area many times and so I wanted to stay close by the noirette's side so that I wouldn't get lost. He still seemed impatient, but he walked at a normal pace as I continued to question him.

"Why though?"

"I just do."

"You have to have a reason."

"I don't."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

It wasn't working, I wasn't getting anywhere. He flipped his hair from his face as he let out a quiet sigh, obviously getting slightly irritated by my insistent inquiring. I was going to have to try a different approach.

"Do you still watch 'Red Racer'?" his head jerked in my direction and I saw his eyebrow arch, "I remember back when we were in elementary school and every day after school ended you would rush home to watch it."

I could have sworn a small smile tugged at his lips as I spoke, but he quickly shrugged his shoulders before returning his gaze back out in front of him, "No. Not really."

"I never really got why you liked that show so much."

"Have you ever watched it?"

"Once or twice."

"Then you haven't watched it enough to understand its awesomeness."

I chuckled lightly, "Well then why don't you tell me about it so that I can? I don't really remember much about it."

He seemed to perk up as he started to explain to me the entire history of the show, telling me all about the characters and what they did and all about his favorite episodes and why he liked them so much. It was nice to see him like that, so happy and enthusiastic about something. I'd never really gotten to see that side of him; the times I hadn't been completely unaware of his presence anywhere near me, he was usually pissed off about something my friends had done and I was usually more occupied with making sure Tweek didn't completely spaz out and run himself into a wall or something. Craig's eyes actually seemed to have a glimmer of life in them and he gestured wildly in front of himself as he explained to me, seemingly happy by my encouragement to continue.

Well that was until, "Why?" his voice suddenly went quiet as he peered at me suspiciously.

"Why what?"

"Why do you care?"

I didn't know how to respond really. On one hand, I really didn't give a shit about what he was saying. I had gotten lost half way through it all anyway, so at one point I was just nodding and smiling as he carried on speaking even though I didn't have a clue what he was talking about. But on the other hand, I really wanted him to feel like he could actually talk to me instead of just being silent in my company. I couldn't say that though, it would just come out really weird and awkward and probably end up in us being left in a more uncomfortable silence than we were in already.

Instead I just shrugged my shoulders and raised my eyebrows expectantly, hoping he would just continue talking. I was surprised when instead of doing that he stopped completely and started fumbling around in his pockets. I stared at him as he pulled out a small bunch of keys, walked up to the house we had stopped in front of and then opened the door, staring back at me whilst pointing inwards. Obediently I rushed in the door and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, waiting for him to give me instruction on what to do or where to go next.

I watched as he lazily removed his bag off of his shoulders and threw it down next to the door, dropping his dark blue coat on top of it and then disappearing into another room further into his house. I took the time to admire the home I was in; it was a lot smaller than my own house.

It was common knowledge that the Tucker family wasn't all that rich. They weren't nearly as poor as Kenny, but they certainly didn't have much spare cash after they'd paid for all the essentials. Because of that, the room was pretty bare spare the couch and the television in the corner of the room. There were scattered photos of their family, Craig scowling in all of the ones that had him in them. Apart from that there were no real signs of any decoration of the room, the walls were all a faded beige color and the carpet was grey with a small fluffy blue rug in the middle.

I went over to one of the pictures on the coffee table and picked it up carefully. It had Craig and his younger sister in it and although Craig looked pissed off, he had one of his arms wrapped protectively around Ruby's shoulders as if he was shielding her away from something dangerous. Obviously there was no danger there, but once again it was interesting to see him showing some sign of emotion, even though it wasn't particularly explicit.

"What are you doing," Craig reappeared, sounding more like he was making a statement than asking a question.

"Looking at this picture," I shrugged casually as I placed it back down in front of me.

"Why?" his monotonous voice questioned, before he quickly shook his head, "Actually I don't really care. Come on."

He proceeded to run up the stairs and turn the corner before I even realized what was going on. I bolted up after him, catching a glimpse of him vanish into the furthest room. I made my way to the door and hesitated slightly before knocking quietly. There were severally signs and inscriptions sprawled across the door with warnings like 'DO NOT ENTER' and 'GET AWAY FROM MY ROOM' and so I felt nervous as I saw him appear next to the door.

He was still just staring at me before he sighed and grabbed a hold on my jacket and pulled me into the room, closing the door loudly behind me. He pushed me in the direction of his desk chair whilst muttering something to himself and walked back out of the room after giving me an 'If you touch my stuff, I'll kill you' kind of look. He then returned a few moments later, dragging a small pink chair behind him.

Craig pulled the up so that it was now positioned next to where I was and looked me up and down carefully as I sat under his stern gaze awkwardly. It didn't take him long to sigh again and then gesture for me to stand up. As I did, he quickly pulled me towards him and then pushed me back down onto the pink chair and took his own seat in his desk chair.

As he saw me looking at him in a confused manner, he stated matter-of-factly, "That's my sister's chair. It's small. You're small. It makes more sense if you sit on it."

It did make sense actually; Craig's extremely tall, especially next to someone like me, due to the fact that with his father's genetics he was destined to be a giant anyway. He is quite thin, but because of the thick muscles on his body, it doesn't make him look disproportionate to his height. If that makes sense. It probably doesn't. But that's because I'm rambling.

As I perched on tiny chairI stopped observing the dark haired teen and I started to stare around the room whilst Craig waited for his computer to load so we could start doing our research. It was pretty old and so it took a while, which gave me a chance to fully absorb my surroundings. There wasn't much in there, just his bed, his closet and his desk and computer. That's not what caught my attention though. What caught my attention was his wall. The one wall that was different. It was covered with various hand drawn and some very intricate drawings. There was nothing pushed up by or leaning up against the wall at all and so almost every inch it was covered in sketches and doodles. The wall was a dark blue color and so most of the illustrations were in light colors like white, yellow or silver and depicted a lot of different things. Some were just random scribbles that were in no shape in particular whilst others were actual drawings of specific things or people.

As I continued to gaze at the wall, I heard Craig cough quietly and I turned back to look at him. He was staring at me curiously, but as he saw my head turn he quickly fixed his eyes back on at the computer monitor.

* * *

Craig

'Why the fuck did I let him in my house?' I thought to myself as I watched the redhead stare around at my room.

I don't know why I agreed he could come over here. I also don't know why I agreed we could start working on the project straight away instead of last minute, anyway. Actually, I still don't understand why I agreed to work with him in the first place. I was just supposed to make a truce with him; that was it. Now we were stuck doing this motherfucking assignment together for whoever knows how long and I was already beginning to doubt how positive the end results would be. And by that I'm not just talking about the grade we get.

"So where do you think we should we start? Have you got any ideas yet?" Kyle eventually returned his face to my direction after spending a while staring at my stuff and he asked me cheerfully as I just shrugged my shoulders in response, "Okay, well maybe we should start by searching for…" he grabbed his bag and started rooting around in it and pulled out a large folder with loads of different compartments in it and different tags sticking out, each with the names of all of his classes and activities on them.

Typical Broflovski, he has to have everything kept neat and orderly and _perfect_. As he pulled out an immaculately straight piece of paper, he also retrieved a bright green highlighter and started going over a lot of the words on the sheet before placing it in front of me. He was giving me a weak smile before he went back to rummaging around in his bag. I caught myself staring at him blankly for a few moments but then snapped out of it as I saw my little sister come strolling into the room with a giant sketch pad and a handful of colored pencils in her hands.

"Ruby, get out."

"Hi, Craig," she walked in and sat on my bed before noticing that I wasn't alone, "I was wondering where my chair was. Hi, Kyle."

The redhead lifted his head up as he heard his name but as he saw Ruby he smiled kindly, "Hey."

She smiled sweetly at him before he continued to jot down a lot more things to do with the project down on the piece of paper he had previously given to me whilst she opened up her own book and wielded a small pink pencil in her hand as she started scribbling too, "How are you?"

I glared at her and butted in before he had the chance to reply back to her, "Ruby, I said get out of my room."

"But I-"

"No. Get out."

"But I can't."

"Yes you can. Go back to your own room," I rolled my eyes and flipped her off as she stuck her tongue out at me.

"I don't have a chair to sit on so I _can't_!" Kyle's head turned again as Ruby put back on her sickly sweet smile, "So I'm staying in here. I wouldn't want to disturb you and Kyle, but I have no choice. I'll be quiet though."

"Go downstairs or something! We're busy here-"

"Busy doing what?"

"Stuff."

"What stuff? Can I see?" she hopped up and started hovering over us.

"Just stuff. No, you can't see, so get out. If you don't, I'll drag you out myself" I sighed irritably as I pushed her away from us.

"But… Kyle! Tell him to let me stay!" she batted her eyelashes as the boy just laughed faintly.

Just as I got up to get rid of her, however, I felt Kyle's small hand grab a hold on my wrist as he whispered, "Just let her stay for a bit. My brother does this all the time. She'll get bored eventually; it's not like we're doing anything exciting."

The touch had slightly surprised me. It felt weird; the contact just sort of… soothed me. I didn't feel all that annoyed anymore and so I just sat back down in my chair but I still glared at my sister who was staring back at me smugly. I think I get how Tweek's always saying that Kyle helps calm him down when our groups fight, the redhead just seems like he has that effect on most people.

Yes, I know that they make contact with each other. Our groups are meant to be sworn enemies, but those two just always seem to stay out of it. They're pussies that's why. But Tweek always seems like he's on the edge of a nervous breakdown when we tell him about our plans to get back at the others and so when I occasionally see him run off to stand away from it all next to Kyle, I don't see the point in getting annoyed at him for it. I mean, I know I'm meant to and all, but I can't. If it keeps him happy, I'm not going to get in the way of that. Either way he's not going to get involved in our payback schemes and so I'd much rather he stayed with Broflovski and I knew that he was okay rather than him freaking out all the time.

But if that means I have to make a few sacrifices, I guess I have no choice but to be okay with that too.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys!**

**I hope you liked this chapter. They seem to be getting along better now, even though they're both still a bit awkward around each other.**

**Oh and the wall! Haha, I'll get to explaining all that stuff later muahahahaha...**

**People have been asking when the full Cryle's going to start, WELL, there will be as many hints as I can possibly drop for now, but remember, this is EVENTUAL Cryle so it might take a while for them to confess their true never ending love :3 hehehehehe.**

**In the next chapter, things should start to heat up a bit more, so I hope to see you all on the next update! **

**^.^**

**XXX**


	6. The View

Kyle

"I thought you said she would go away. She's not going away. She's still in my room. I want her out of my room."

Craig was complaining like a bitch for the entire time we were doing our research. Mostly it was about the fact that Ruby didn't budge from her position on his bed and it was obviously bugging him. He would glance back at her every so often and she would just smile at him before going back to scribbling in her book. I don't know why, but that seemed to annoy him more. He fidgeted in his seat as I did most of the written work and he would only concentrate long enough to type something into the search engine and then he would glare back at his sister.

"Why is it irritating you so much? It's not like she's doing anything particularly distracting or annoying," I rolled my eyes as I tapped him to get his attention and pointed to the next thing I wanted him to search for.

"Because she's in my room. She's not allowed in my room. Have you not seen the signs on the door?" he asked crossing his arms once he had done the task, "And she knows she's not meant to be in here. That's why she's so smug about it."

He pointed towards her but all I saw was Ruby sitting quietly writing. She lifted her head and as she saw us she smiled, but frowned when she saw Craig flip her off. She did the same thing back to him before smiling back at me and continuing to draw.

The noirette next to me muttered, "Fucking smug bitch," before narrowing his eyes slightly at me, "Since when did you know my annoying little sister anyway?"

"Well I guess we've just met before or something, maybe when-"

Before I had a chance to complete my sentence, I was interrupted, "It doesn't need a reason. It's Kyle. Everybody knows Kyle."

I laughed slightly at the comment, "What?"

"Even if people haven't spoken to you or know you personally, everybody knows you, Kyle. You're like, a celebrity."

"Am I?" I scrunched up my face in confusion as I saw Craig do the same.

"Yeah, of course you are! You and your friends do loads of cool stuff around town, how could anybody who lived here not know who you were?" she smiled again.

"It's not cool stuff, its stupid stuff…" the boy next to me mumbled, obviously getting irritated again.

I just rolled my eyes playfully at Ruby as she laughed lightly before I went back to writing down some information from the site we were on. I didn't want him to get too annoyed, he had only just seemed to start to be more relaxed around me and so I wanted to make sure he stayed that way. At least until I could ask him about when he was planning on making friends with Stan and Kenny, anyway.

"So what are you writing, anyway?" he peered over at the piece of paper, his eyes curious.

"Just some facts and stuff. Putting statistics in reports makes it sound a lot better," I shrugged my shoulder, stretching across him to the mouse to scroll down the webpage, "Teachers love 'em. I don't know why though, I guess it just makes it sound like you're smarter."

After I finished speaking, he seemed to lose focus again, returning to staring blankly at the wall behind the computer apart from his occasional glances at his little sister. I didn't know what to make of it. I already assumed he wasn't really a chatty person, whether or not he felt awkward, because he had just always seemed to be like that, even when there were no bad feelings between us.

"Okay, so how can we promote healthy food? What can we say that will convince people to eat stuff that isn't junk food for snacks?" I probed, hoping he'd come up with a contribution but he didn't appear to have heard me. I think I heard him let out a small grunt in response, but it was undecipherable, "Do you have any thoughts on it…?

He let out another quiet grunt as his eyes stayed in the direction of the wall. Okay, so it was starting to irritate me. He had been the one who insisted I came to his house instead of us going to mine, and now he just seemed disinterested. It wouldn't annoy me as much if I wasn't constantly getting texts from Cartman taunting me about the stupid bet all the while.

"Do you think we should just stick a picture of some shit on the front of a leaflet and shove it in people's mouths and use that to convince them?" I asked sarcastically as I heard a quiet titter from Ruby in the background of the room.

To no surprise, Craig just responded with the same uncaring mumble as before, only this time his gaze had shifted to just staring down at the keyboard. He wasn't touching it, he was just staring. I circled something on the paper for him to search but he still wasn't paying any attention.

I actually just wanted to get the assignment done at that point; obviously working together wasn't the best way to try to befriend him. It was a bit late to start realizing that though, so I had to carry on, even if that meant I had to do it on my own. I had to at least make sure I did enough work to secure an A, even if that meant doing it alone. I stood up from my chair and reached down in front of Craig, grabbing the keyboard and typing away. I'm not even sure that he realized I'd done it, but as seen as the wire couldn't stretch far enough for me to pull it to where I was sitting, I had to move so that I was stretching across in front of him so that I could reach it. It was pretty uncomfortable actually, but I didn't really care anymore. I just had to keep myself distracted so I didn't get too annoyed myself.

* * *

Craig

"Oh… er…" I whispered quietly to myself; I didn't really know what else to say.

I hadn't been paying much attention to what had been happening after Kyle had finished talking about all the statistics and stuff and had gotten a bit lost in my own thoughts for a while so I was pretty confused when I finally came back to my senses and realized the redhead's small figure was positioned right in front of me. He was practically sitting on my lap, his legs bent as he tried to stand at eye level to the computer screen.

I craned my neck so that I could see his face more clearly. His large green eyes were darting around between the screen and the paper as he scrolled down and typed things in before quickly scribbling down more notes. He hadn't noticed that I had noticed him so I decided it would probably just be best if I just sat back and let him do the work; it's not like my input would help in any way, anyway.

As he crouched in front of me, no matter how hard I tried, it was pretty hard for me get back to daydreaming. I don't know why; it's not like he was doing anything interesting. All he was doing was the same type, click, scroll, scribble rotation over and over again, but for some reason it kept my attention and prevented me from getting lost back in my thoughts. Or maybe I was already lost in my thoughts, but the thoughts were just focused on him.

Either way, I didn't like it. Just like I didn't like the fact that as he stood in front of me, I couldn't help but notice the view of his ass there in front of me. I mean, obviously I didn't want to look at it, that would be totally gay, but I couldn't help it. It was just kind of _there_. As well as that, his leg would occasionally twitch as his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Every time it did so he let out an annoyed sigh but ignored it as he continued his cycle, not realizing that every time his leg moved it would brush against mine slightly and give me another reason to unconsciously look downwards and then be greeted by his ass again. I wanted to look away, obviously, but it's pretty hard when your brain doesn't want to listen to what you want it to do , like when you tell it to stare at the ceiling and it looks in the opposite direction.

"Kyle?" Ruby spoke up from behind us, sounding amused. Kyle didn't reply but gave her a small 'hmm?' to let her know he'd heard her, "What are you doing?"

"Working."

"Well, what's Craig doing?"

"Not working," he sounded a bit irritated, but continued staring at the screen in front of him.

"Because to me it looks like he's trying extremely hard not to look at your ass," she let out a small chuckle.

"What?" he whipped around and raised his eyebrow at her but then looked down at me in a confused manner.

We were pretty close now because of the position we had already been in, our legs again touching as he twisted his body around to face me; I didn't know if I was pissed at my sister for saying that or relieved I could actually look straight on now, but then I realized that because we were so close looking straight at him was just as, if not, more awkward and so I stared back at the ceiling before he spoke, "Oh, um, sorry... you just weren't concentrating and I wanted to get it done," he laughed nervously as he backed away and sat back on my little sister's chair.

"Er... yeah, whatever," I just shrugged my shoulders, hoping the situation wouldn't turn any more awkward than it already was and that Kyle wouldn't think of it as a big deal anyway. Because it wasn't one. Right? "For the record, I wasn't trying hard not to look at your ass."

His eyebrow quirked as he stared at me, "What?"

I was confused at what he was asking about until I realized what I had just said, "Oh shit, no I don't mean I _was _trying to look... I just mean I wasn't trying not to either. Like, I wasn't doing either, I just wasn't paying any attention at all, so-"

He let out another nervous chuckle, "It's okay, I get what you mean," he patted my leg with a small smile and then turned away to carry on writing.

_Again_ with the fucking touching. It was weird because usually when people touch me, I get really annoyed. Even when it's someone like Clyde who constantly feels the need to touch people when gesturing or something, it really pisses me off. Physical contact just isn't my thing (unless it's me punching someone in the face or something, then I can make an exception) but I didn't really mind when Kyle did it. Maybe it was just because I was tired and confused and I didn't really want to put too much thought into anything, but when he gave me those subtle little bits of contact it didn't make me want to kick him in the balls like I assumed it would and should have.

The rest of the time we worked on the project, it was in awkward silence. I didn't do a great job on trying to stop the awkwardness before and so I had decided that just staying quiet was the best way to go. I still didn't really know what it was that we were actually doing, I was just typing and scrolling when he told me to, and basically getting whatever information he thought we needed. It worked pretty well because we got quite a lot done, but it was obvious that the atmosphere in the room felt a bit tense.

As time began to tick by, I could tell Kyle was starting to get bored and tired. It had obviously been boring to start with, but it seemed even more so now that we had been working on it for quite some time. He was writing much more slowly, leaning on his arm as he stared at the wall trying to think.

"Do you, er, wanna do something else?"

"Huh? Like what? I thought we agreed on this theme...?"

"No, not the assignment. I mean just something else generally."

"Oh..." he looked hesitantly at me for a moment before glancing at his watch, "I think we're nearly done anyway," he shrugged his shoulders unenthusiastically before starting to neatly pach his things away into his backpack, "Actually, I think I'd better be getting home soon."

"I didn't mean you had to leave, I just-"

"Yeah, I know, it's just that I don't need my mom ranting at me for getting home late so I'd better get going now if I want to make it home on time; it'll probably take me a while to get to somewhere where I know where I actually am," he let out a small faint-hearted chuckle.

"I could walk with you. So you don't get lost, I mean."

"Oh," he appeared to think it over before offering a weak smile, "Okay then. Now?"

"Sure," I got out of my chair slowly, trying to wake myself up from my semi-conscious state.

As I turned around, I saw Ruby standing down beside me, "Where did you say you were going?"

"To bring Kyle home, so you can get out now," I flipped her off before pushing her in the direction of the door, but she just returned the gesture and walked up to the redhead next to me.

"So Kyle, when are you coming back? Are you coming tomorrow?" she was grinning widely as he just smiled back.

"Um, I'm not sure," he glanced at me before looking back at her, "But I'll probably see you around again at some point anyway, even if I don't see you soon," he gave her a thumbs up as she just grinned again and strolled out of the door back to her room, dragging her chair out with her.

Instead of commenting, I just rolled my eyes at them and walked out of the room, gesturing for Kyle to follow. I quickly shut the door behind him as we came out and we speedily made our way outside. It was pretty cold, but I had grabbed my jacket on the way out so it wasn't that bad. In South Park you had to be used to cold weather, no matter what time of year it was. It was fall and so it was going to be cold anyway, so it wasn't all that big of a surprise.

We began walking in silence, small clouds of breath escaping our lips when we each took a breath. Whenever I had the chance, I would look over and observe Kyle. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts whilst taking in the surroundings. His eyes were wide and his lips were slightly parted as if he was constantly on the verge of speaking, but he stayed quiet. His phone still vibrated periodically in his pocket, but he still refused to look at it.

As we approached his house, he seemed to tense up a bit, "What's wrong?" I don't know why I asked, I don't care about other people's feelings, but I had already said it so I was going to have to just listen to the answer.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Really?" Why was I persisting with the point; if he says he's fine, he's fine, right?

"I just... It doesn't matter. It's nothing," he stood awkwardly next to me as we got to the path leading up to his house, his fingers drumming against the pocket his phone was in; I didn't walk him up it though, that would be totally gay.

"Well it obviously isn't nothing. What is it?" I really needed to stop talking, he might have thought that I gave a damn about what it was that was troubling him. Because I didn't.

"No, seriously, everything's perfectly fine. I'll, er, see you tomorrow or something," his eyes narrowed quizzically before he offered me a small nod and a weak smile as he bounded up his path, opened the door and disappeared inside.

I'm pretty sure he made a grab for his phone just after he got in the door, but I just dismissed the thought and stuffed my hands back in my pockets as I sloped back off in the direction I had come from. As a gust of wind blew in my face, I felt my chullo get blown off of my head. After cursing under my breath, I ran back after it and couldn't help but take a look back at Kyle's house as my hat fell onto his lawn. As I peered at the home, I could see Kyle and his little brother through the window, obviously having an argument about something. The redhead was typing quickly on his cell phone whilst shouting out at his sibling, but I couldn't hear what they were saying from the distance I was at. I decided not to hang around though in case one of them saw me and so I quickly ran off down the street.

As I turned the corner, I couldn't help but wonder what it was about. I mean, Kyle had seemed a bit tense, but he hadn't seemed particularly angry at anything when he walked in his door. There obviously was something wrong though, so maybe there was a reason he was angry that he just wasn't letting me in on. Or maybe it was whoever had texted him that had pissed him of, I really didn't know. But whatever it was, it appeared to be something pretty big. But then again, although Kyle doesn't like to get involved in fights and arguments, he has a very fiery temper and can get heated up quite easily sometimes, so it technically could just be something little that he got annoyed at and because he was so tense it had just sent him over the edge.

But why was I getting so caught up on it? Kyle and _his_ problems weren't _my_ problem. He was just a small piece in my much bigger plan. So why was I spending so much time thinking about him?

* * *

**A/N: Howdy, dudes and dudettes! **

**What's this big master plan Craig keeps hinting at? Is it totally big and amazing and cool and is it going to ruin the lives of the boys forever? Maybe. Who knows? I do. Hahaha.**

**So as things are going, I might spend more time focusing on one of the boys per chapter instead of both, although they'll probably both get a look in, even if it's only short.**

**There'll probably be more Craig actually because I like writing his POV better I think, but if you want to see more of Kyle just tell me and I'll stick him in. Or Ike, but that'll be quite a hard one so I might not do him again for a while. But he'll be back at some point anyway, don't worry :D**

**So cheerio mateys, don't be afraid to leave a review! (I really appreciate all the ones so far, by the way, thank you so much!) **

**^.^ **

**XXX**


	7. The Back and Forth

Craig

As I sat in Clyde's car on the way to school, my mind drifted back to the events of the previous night when I walked Kyle home. After spending an entire night thinking about it, I was starting to get sick of it, but it didn't stop me from contemplating it anyway. But I was obviously just more curious than actually concerned for Kyle though. Obviously. Knowing what's going on with other people is good, especially when they're meant to be one of your enemies. Well, an enemy in which I was in a truce with.

"So anyway dude, we think we've got it sorted; on Saturday afternoon me and Token were thinking we should all go to the arcade or something, Tweek loves it there so he'll be all for it."

"Huh?" I shook my head as I tried to concentrate on what he was saying, "I thought you said you were going to make it big? I thought you'd attempt to do more than a night at the arcade at least… But it doesn't matter anyway because no he doesn't, he hates the arcade. There are normally too many people there, especially on a Saturday."

"Nah, he'll love it because Token's going to get them to lock it off so that only kids from our school and in our grade can get in. We're gonna have a massive party with music and dancing and food and it's gonna be frickin' sweet because it'll be practically ours to do whatever we want!"

"Well…" I thought it over in my head before sighing as I saw the pleading smile Clyde was giving me, "Fine, I guess. But don't blame me if he doesn't like it as much as you think he will."

"Yeah! It's gonna be awesome dude, just you wait! We'll put up decorations and stuff too and there'll be a DJ and it'll all be really super cool and, we'll have cake and ice cream and," he went on to list a load of things really enthusiastically that at that moment in time I really didn't give a shit about. I had my own birthday plans set out for Tweek and so I had to carry on planning those before I ran out of time.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention it was coming up to Tweek's birthday? Well it was. It was on the Saturday of that week, and because it was only Tuesday we still had a while to sort things out. He had told us not to plan anything for him because he didn't want to make us feel like we were under 'too much pressure' but Token and Clyde, being the party obsessed people that they are, instantly decided they were going to completely ignore his request and throw him one anyway. I on the other hand hadn't been that bothered with the events side of the celebrations so I had been put in charge of finding a 'kickass' present for him. I still hadn't officially got him one, even though I was pretty sure I was just going to end up buying him a new coffee mug or something.

Before I could carry on thinking about all of that, we pulled into the school car park. Just as we were getting out, we saw Token pull up next to us in his shiny white ferrarri, Tweek shaking as he followed out behind him. Perfect timing.

"Wassup dudes?" Clyde greeted them brightly as he fist-bumped Token and patted Tweek on the back.

"Clyde, did you ask him about, you know…" Token glanced at the blonde next to him before he discreetly pointed in my direction and then in Tweek's.

"What? Oh, right! Yeah, he's all for it!" We started walking towards the main school block, dodging crowds of gossiping pupils as we attempted to reach the building.

"We'd better start sorting all the stuff out then…" Token glanced back at Tweek who was still twitching more than usual as he started staring at all the people we were passing, "Er, guys, we'll catch you later, alright?"

And with that they both left me alone with the paranoid kid who decided to stare at me instead. He looked really scared actually, but I didn't really know why at that point; I didn't even bother to ask. I just caught hold of his bag and dragged him towards our lockers. They were pretty close since both our surnames end in a T and so they were in the same area. I gently nudged him towards his own and watched as he struggled to open his lock with his trembling hands.

I sighed before pushing him out of the way and opening it myself because obviously, I know his combination and the wait was starting to piss me off, "Tweek, what the hell is wrong with you today?"

"I-I don't know… I f-feel… Like I'm being w-w-watched," his head glanced around quickly as he hid behind me, "What if –ack!- What if the p-people come and k-kidnap me?"

"Seriously?" I let out another sigh as I took a few steps and opened my own locker, "What people? You aren't being watched Tweek. How much coffee have you had this morning?"

"I, er, I-I, I-" as he stuttered I exchanged a few books from my backpack and locker and then closed it before he could even get his words out.

"So a lot then."

"Y-yeah…"

I rolled my eyes with a quiet groan, "And so now _I_ have to be the one to deal with you? Fine, come on, we've got the same first period class right? Just stick with me, I won't let 'the people' get you."

He quickly slammed his locker shut and gripped onto my backpack as we started weaving our way through the halls. He obviously knew that if he wanted to hold onto me I wasn't going to let him actually hold my hand or anything, so my bag was the best he was going to get away with. This happened a lot; Tweek getting scared and me having to be the one to attempt to comfort him and usually failing miserably. Instead I just allowed him to tag along with me like a lost puppy. He must find some comfort in it though, because he keeps doing it when he's anxious about something. I guess it's just because Clyde's too bubbly to even notice there's a problem usually and normally Token quickly hurries off if he realizes something is up because he doesn't want to be the one to sort it out. He's pretty smart, that guy.

Anyway, as we trekked to the other side of the school, we walked past Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny. They were huddled around each other, with Stan and Kenny rooting around in their lockers as they talked and laughed loudly. I tried to hurry past them without them realizing I was there, but Cartman caught a glimpse of me. I could have sworn he gave me an odd smirk before I dashed off, Tweek being dragged behind me, but I wanted to get away as fast as possible so I didn't bother questioning it.

* * *

Kyle

"That was fucking priceless," Cartman scoffed as he leaned against the lockers lazily, "Did you see the look on his face?"

"Who's face?" Kenny asked curiously, throwing a couple books into his old bag.

"Craig's. He just ran past; he looked scared for his life."

"Why?" I frowned as I looked around the halls, but the noirette was obviously gone by now.

"Dunno, but it was hilarious. Maybe he knows we're onto him," he let out another short chuckle.

"No, he can't know that. How would he know that?" I retorted, feeling slightly panicked.

If he thought that we had a plan against him, he would almost definitely choose not to make a truce with Kenny and Stan so that he could get us back for it. Had me asking to be his partner been too obvious? Did he really know? No, that was crazy, he didn't know anything about what we were doing. No, screw that, I was completely fine, right?

Cartman was probably thinking the same thing as he grinned at me, "Scared you're going to lose? Come on, you're not ready to admit defeat already are you? Things are still only just getting started, Kahl," he crossed his arms against his chest and he cocked his head to one side as he awaited a reply, his grin widening as each second passed.

I chose to ignore him at first, knowing that he was purposely looking for an angry response, but I couldn't help but to react when I saw him start to lick at his lips and point downwards suggestively, still smirking as I saw that stupid twinkle in his eye, "I AM NOT GOING TO LOSE AND I AM NOT SUCKING YOUR FUCKING BALLS, CARTMAN!"

I guess I screamed that a bit too loudly, because I got a few confused glances from people around me, but everybody knew that we practically hated each other and so hopefully none of them took it out of context. We made stupid bets all the time; everyone knew that, so often random things like this got screamed out and most people just dismissed it; 'it's just Kyle and Cartman getting in another argument like they always do'.

"Dude, calm down," Kenny pulled me away from the fat ass as I could feel my face heating up in anger, "You know he's just trying to get to you."

"If it annoys you so much why did you make the stupid bet in the first place?" Stan asked, closing his locker slowly.

I glared at him for a moment, before shaking myself out of Kenny's grip and taking a few steps back, "I haven't got time for this crap today, see you later guys," I mumbled.

They each exchanged a few confused glances as I began to walk away, but I quickly returned and strongly nudged Cartman in the gut before leaving again. I heard him curse at me as he clutched at his stomach, but I ignored it. It was his own fault for being a dumbass. As I continued through the halls, I was on the lookout for someone I wouldn't actually mind talking to. Nobody fit the criteria; everyone I passed was either really annoying or really depressing, so I didn't think it made sense to make me feel more pissed off than I already was.

I got to my first class early and saw Butters standing outside of the door looking cheerful as he stood staring at the wall on his own. Ah, Butters. I could always rely on him to make my days better.

"Hey, Butters," I strolled up to him and leaned next to the spot of the wall that he appeared to be finding so interesting.

"Oh, hey Kyle! How come you're here on your own so early? You're normally with the fellers aren't you? Is something wrong? Are you fighting? Because golly, if you're fighting that's not good…" he stared at me, his knuckles knocking together as they always did.

I just gave him a weak smile, "No, Butters, everything's fine. I just wanted to get here a bit early, that's all."

"Well, that's good then," he smiled brightly as he came and stood next to me, "You can stay with me if you want, I might not be as cool as them guys, but hopefully I'm an alright friend if you need one."

I chuckled lightly, "You're an awesome friend Butters. You should already know that."

His smile increased at that, "Really?"

"Yeah, sure. Why do you think I work with you in some of our classes together instead of anyone else?"

"Because Stan's not in any of them?"

"Well…" that was obviously a fair point, but I wasn't going to say that because it would put a bit of a downer on the mood, "No, it's because I like working with you."

"Aw, that's swell! I like working with you too!" before I realized what was happening I felt him quickly wrap his arms around me, pulling me into a big friendly hug.

Instead of reacting, I just let him do it. In fact, I hugged him back. It was nice to feel like at least one person was on my side. Everyone else, even Stan and Kenny, seemed to be against me. Even though they hadn't said anything to me specifically, I knew that they both doubted Craig's intentions. But I had no choice but to continue with the bet now, even though it was really pissing me off because currently Craig showed absolutely no intent on making a truce.

As Butters pretty reluctantly let go of me so we could enter the classroom, I noticed both Craig and Tweek dart into the room in front of us. Since when had they been in that class? I'd never noticed them in there before, but then again, I didn't really notice many people. In every class I was in I had either Stan, Kenny, Cartman or Butters for company and for group tasks so I didn't need to acknowledge anybody else. I practically ignored those four anyway, concentrating on what we were being taught instead of talking like the rest of the people in the room. The guys always rip on me for it, but I don't really care. I talk to and am pretty good friends with most people in our school, but that's only when I'm out of class.

As I hurried into the room and took my seat at the front, I noticed Craig and Tweek take seats at the back of the room. I sat and watched the frazzled blonde as he twitched and looked to the noirette for some sort of comfort. Craig just stared at him before pulling a small rubber band out of his pocket and pushing it onto Tweek's thin wrist. They nodded at each other, Tweek's a lot more jittery, and then they turned back to face the front of the room. I quickly turned around so they wouldn't see me looking at them and tried to refocus my mind whilst trying to work out why exactly a rubber band calmed the boy down, but I quickly dismissed the thoughts.

As I the lesson continued, I often found myself glancing around at them. The whole thing intrigued me. The blonde appeared to be so much calmer as time went on, but I couldn't work out why. I eventually came to the conclusion that the band had been soaked in coffee and it was now being absorbed by the blonde through his skin, but I knew it was a ridiculous theory; it was just that I didn't have any other ideas. Craig didn't seem at all bothered by his friend's state of mind; he appeared to be as chilled and relaxed as ever. His eyes were blank as he stared out of the window, his arms folded against his chest as he did so.

I don't know why I found it so interesting to look at him. It was like there was so much going on in the boy's mind that he just didn't share. Well, he might share it, but just not with me, obviously. But I wanted to know what he was thinking about. Occasionally he would come back to his senses and look back around the room to which I would quickly turn back around so he didn't notice me staring, but he would often just get lost in his own thoughts again giving me the opportunity to get back to being curious about what was going through his head.

When the class ended, there was a loud sigh of relief as people left the room. It had been extremely boring and people were looking forward to leaving. I felt like hanging back so that I could ask Tweek about the rubber band and Craig about his thoughts, but I decided it probably wasn't the best idea or the best time and so I quickly left before I ran into an awkward encounter with them.

In the next few lessons, I realized just how many of my other friends were in all my classes. Craig seemed to be in quite a lot of them too, which was weird because I felt like it would have been something I'd have realized already. I continued to watch the boy in between doing my work and avoiding his counter glances and each time I saw the absentminded look on his face it made me even more curious to know what exactly it was that had his mind so consumed. It was probably something big or important; he very rarely showed any signs of movement or realization. But on the other hand, he might have acted like that all the time and I wouldn't have known about it. I didn't want to ask anyone in fear of bringing back up still slightly surfaced anger on the whole bet thing, so I just stayed quiet and observed in secret. Because I'm normally quiet in class anyway, nobody thought any differently about it or even looked in my direction and so I was free to gawp at Craig for the rest of the morning with no one really noticing. I'm not sure if he himself had noticed, but when he looked at me I would turn away so hopefully he didn't. Things were awkward enough as it was without that added on top; we still had quite a lot of the project to complete.

* * *

**A/N: OMIGOSH READ THIS PLEASE:**

**OMIGOSH IT'S GOING TO BE TWEEK'S BIRTHDAY! **

**So, guys here's a question for you all, this is why I wanted you to read this****: What would you get Tweek as a birthday present? (That isn't coffee or something coffee flavored or like a mug or whatever; be creative!)**

**I want to use them as actual gifts for him in the story from various people, so make them good ones please!**

**(And, well, if nobody responds... I guess Tweek's gonna have a pretty lame birthday... :/)**

**ANYWAY:**

**So Craig is constantly on Kyle's mind and Kyle is constantly on Craig's mind. Huh, what a coincidence. **

**I feel like this chapter wasn't that great, so feel free to leave me some critiscm in a review, as well as anything else you want to mention *birthday gifts*~cough~***

**And aw, Butters is in there, I love him so so much, he's a cutie :3 **

**Bye for now, **

**^.^**

** XXX**


	8. The Tree

Kyle

As we flooded out of the classroom to go to lunch, I was one of the first to dart out. I hadn't gotten much work done that lesson; I'd spent most of it gawping at Craig and trying to work out how I was going to settle this bet with Cartman. The noirette was still showing no signs of attempting to speak to Kenny and Stan at all, and it made me start to doubt my stance in the bet; as each moment passed, there was a greater chance of me losing and a greater chance of Cartman winning. But I couldn't let that happen.

As the thoughts whirred around in my head, I had started to get quite annoyed at myself for over analysing things as I always did and so I just ran straight to my locker, pulled out a few books, stuffed them in my bag, sent a quick text to Stan telling him I wasn't meeting with them all and made a fast dash outside. I made my way out to my tree that was sitting alone on the top of the far hill. I loved going there when I felt annoyed and angry; it was a great place to mellow out. Nobody ventured over there so it was always peaceful, quiet and calm but it was in plain view of the rest of the school so I could always see what was going on and if anybody really needed me for whatever reason they could easily get my attention. It was where I felt my best and it was where I spent most of my time, but I didn't let many people go near it. That might make me sound like an asshole, I mean I know it's only a tree, but it's one of the only places I can claim as mine and I wanted it to stay that way. I don't even let my close friends up their most of the time because it's usually them that I'm trying to get away from, but when I'm in the right frame of mind I let them chill there with me. I'm pretty defensive about it, though.

However, today wasn't one of those days. My frame of mind was all over the place. In fact, that frame had shattered into a billion little pieces, scattered within my small skull, trying and failing to fall back into place. The last 24 hours had been extremely stressful; my best friends (and Cartman) were annoying the hell out of me, one of my so-called enemies was becoming a new-found acquaintance and my infuriating little brotherwas being… well my infuriating little brother. All of them had seemed to completely change their standpoint on their loyalty to me; Craig for the better, the others for the worse. The whole idea of it all was enough to give me a headache and so as I heaved myself down under the low hanging tree, I rested against it, shutting my eyes tightly, hoping that everything would just go back to normal soon.

I highly doubted it, but after a long while of having my eyes closed, I reopened them when I heard the noise of crunching leaves approaching me and although things weren't back to what I defined as 'normal', I was having the strangest sense of déjà vu.

* * *

Craig

Once again, I found myself transfixed on the redhead. For the entire day, he had been on my mind and no matter how hard I tried he wouldn't get out. It was annoying as hell because in all the classes I'd had that day, Kyle had been in them and so I found it hard not to look at him. I had done well until I noticed that he appeared to be looking back at me in a confused manner. I didn't know what he was thinking or why he was looking at me in the first place, so it just puzzled me even more. Kyle was never one to lose focus in class, so I couldn't help but feel very conscious when I saw his glances. He obviously tried to keep them subtle, but I noticed even the slightest of movements he made to face in my direction. As he looked towards me, I would often avert my eyes so that I was staring out of the window or at a wall and as he turned away I would quickly return to gaze at him. I didn't know if he become aware of the pattern forming, but I had. At one point I just stayed staring at him to see how he'd react when he chanced a glance in my direction, but when he did he just pretended to ask the person behind him for a highlighter and hurriedly turned back around. How did I know he was pretending and didn't genuinely need the item? Well 1) because when he took it I watched as he just made a small dot in the side of his paper with it and then give it back and 2) because he had used his own one at my house the previous day.

As I slowly strolled out of the period before lunch, I noticed him run off quickly, leaving Kenny, who was also in that class, behind. I thought it was quite strange because they always waited for each other. It lead me to think that Kyle was even more out of sorts than I had initially thought, but I tried not to dwell on it because it wasn't really my business and it didn't matter anyway because I didn't care about Kyle and how he felt. Well, that's what I was meant to think. All he was to me was a guy I made a truce with. And my home-economics partner. But that was only temporary. He was nothing more than that, so I just needed to refocus my mind on what I was really meant to be thinking about. Yep.

I met with Clyde, Token and Tweek outside my locker as they awaited my arrival.

"Hey, bro, do you wanna eat inside or outside today?" Clyde greeted me cheerily, patting my shoulder as I opened up my locker.

I shrugged his hand off and continued flinging books into and out of my bag, "I really don't care."

"T-there are too many –Gah!- people inside, they could all be watching me! Oh Jesus!" he quickly jumped behind Clyde as he heard the slam of the metal locker door swing shut.

"…So outside?" Token nodded towards the door as we all nodded back in agreement, following him in suit.

As we sat at one on the tables outside, we chatted amongst ourselves as we all ate our lunches. We all brought our own food, mainly because the cafeteria food was disgusting, but also because Token gets given a mega feast of food everyday because of his rich ass so we just all share from his. He doesn't mind because he purposely over packs it so that there's enough for us to all get our own helping. Well, his mother over packs it for him; she doesn't reduce the amount because she assumes that he's the one who eats it all because of the lack of leftovers and it's not like they need to cut down on spending or anything.

As Clyde and Token talked loudly and enthusiastically about whatever came to mind, the brunette next to me continued to jab me in the arm as he gestured wildly in his explanations of whatever crap they were chatting about. It hurt like a bitch because he just didn't seem to notice that he was doing it and he was getting overly excited about his conversation. At first I had ignored it because I wasn't really paying attention and I just assumed it was the only time he was going to do it, but he carried on doing it, jumping up slightly every few minutes as a 'awesomely cool' topic popped into his head.

"CLYDE, STOP IT!" I eventually snapped, pushing him away from me as I slid in the opposite direction of him on the seats of the picnic bench.

Instantly Clyde stopped moving. In fact, he stopped talking all together. He just sat there in silence staring at me, his eyes seeming to glass over and I assumed he was about to burst into tears. But then he stopped, blinked a few times, pinched the knotted rubber band on his wrist and turned away to continue talking to Token, but this time in a much quieter tone. It was really strange, but I guess it was good to see that he'd stopped being such a crybaby. I didn't even know he still did the pinch thing before he mentioned the rubber band the day before, but that's why I recommended Tweek use the same kind of method.

I had given him the rubber band on that morning when he had been going crazy and paranoid and I had told him that whenever he feels like that he should pull on it and the sting should tell him that he's still fine and can still feel pain so he has no reason to worry. It didn't make any sense, actually, but it seemed to calm him down so I just rolled with it. It might have had something to do with adding the part about me kicking his ass if he continued to freak out. Maybe.

At the table, Tweek was silent as he sipped his freshly brewed coffee next to Token. The rich boy had had to venture into the cafeteria to get it for him due to the fact that the blonde was too scared to get it himself. He hadn't asked me to get it in fear of getting beat up for being paranoid, but when I found out where the other boy had left to go to, I gave Tweek a quick jab in the arm which caused him to stop shaking so that he could frown at me, but I just shrugged my shoulders at him and walked off without another word, proving that I was serious in my 'threat'. He hadn't been shaking or twitching since then, so he seemed to be alright, but I decided to ask anyway before I got too annoyed at Clyde continuing to shake the bench as he started moving up and down whilst telling another story.

"Are you alright, dude?" I whispered across to him; I felt a bit bad for hitting him now, but as long as he was okay it didn't really bother me that much.

He looked hesitant, but nodded his head, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You're not talking much."

"But neither are you," as he said it he seemed to regret it, like he assumed I'd hit him again or something because he appeared to move back a bit.

I didn't react apart from a frown though, "Whatever. I just wanted to make sure."

"Oh… well…thanks?" again he looked hesitant but I just rolled my eyes at him, stuffing a handful of chocolate into my mouth.

I was getting used to the fact that I seemed to care a bit more about how the people around me felt and I wasn't just the cold-hearted bastard I've always trained myself to be. I carried on talking to Tweek and Clyde and Token continued on in their own conversation, but at one point I reluctantly moved back to sitting next to my brunette best friend and he beamed at me before going back to accidently hitting me in the face repeatedly. He's fucking lucky I find it hard to stay mad at him.

As we continued to tuck into the food, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Kyle was back sitting under his tree. He didn't appear to be working like he usually did under there so I stayed staring at him for quite some time. I don't know why I liked watching him so much; he just always seemed to grab my attention, even when he showed no signs of movement or activity like he was then.

I wanted to go over to him although I didn't really know why. Just to say 'hi' I guess. But I couldn't because I couldn't allow my friends to know that I'd been talking to him. Not yet, anyway. I was surprised they hadn't already heard that we were working together for the project, but it's not like we have spies following and documenting our every move so it wasn't like they were supposed to or anything.

When we finally chomped through the last scraps, each of us decided that we had our own stuff to do. Well, Clyde and Tweek had one of their own assignments to add the finishing touches to and Token said that he had some people to talk to about planning 'something' (Tweek was still present during this conversation so they couldn't mention the party out loud- not that the twitchy blonde was paying any attention though). He had asked me if I wanted to come with him, but I declined telling them I had my own business to attend to.

I quickly hurried away before they could ask any more questions and waited around the corner for them to leave before making my way quickly and discreetly over to the hill that Kyle was perched on.

I watched as Kyle appeared to ponder my presence there but he stayed silent as he sat crossed legged with his back leaning against the tree, probably mentally questioning me as I continued to stay quiet in front of him. He took a thick book out of his backpack and flipped through the pages before stopping at a page quite close to the end. Before I even had a chance to question him, he had started reading and so I just sat down on the ground in front of him, playing with the blades of grass as I waited. His face when he read was so... interesting to watch. I would say cute, but that would sound totally gay, so instead I guess it was just fascinating. Like the way that his eyes would widen occasionally in what I assume was shock or interest as his pupils would dart back and forth across the words and how from time to time his tongue would escape the corner of his mouth as he concentrated on whatever it was that he was reading at that moment. I took a while just staring at him, highly amused by his facial expressions and it kept me entertained for quite some time until the redhead finished his book.

As he did so he closed it with a content sigh and placed it back in his bag before staring at the patch of grass separating us. He still wasn't speaking as he pulled at a few blades and laced them around his fingers slowly, his small smile still gracing his thin lips.

"So, have you had any more ideas for our home economics project?" I started, using the only mutual topic I could think of, hoping he would actually respond instead of staying quiet.

"No," well, it was a start.

"Oh."

He rolled his eyes as his gaze looked up to meet mine, "Have you?"

Although I had put absolutely no thought into the actual work of the assignment, I didn't want him to know that; I wanted him to think I had at least attempted to do some even if he was going to inevitably end up doing it all himself. I hesitated as I glanced around at our surroundings, hoping inspiration would suddenly strike.

"Well I was thinking that we could..." I took another look and saw an old flyer from a previous class president election, "We could make a poster?"

Kyle's lips curled into a small grin as he stared back at the ground, thinking about the idea before looking back at me again with his eyebrow raised, "Are you going to help though? Or are you just going to make me do it all?"

He still had a weak smile on his face as he asked so I decided to play along, "Nope, I'm giving you all the responsibility to get it done and I'm just going to sit and watch you get me an A+."

As our eyes met again, he appeared to be contemplating what I had said, his eyebrows knitting as he stared into my eyes thoughtfully before frowning, "I can't tell if you're being serious or not..."

I tried not to smirk at the comment as I kept my face void of emotion, "Good. You should assume that most of the things I say are serious," his frown deepened as he stared back before his head dropped to face downwards and I couldn't help but let out a light-hearted chuckle, "But in this case, I'm not. I'll help, don't worry. I didn't mean to let you do it all yesterday," that was half-true, I wasn't even focused on not focusing for most of the time, "But I will help this time. I promise."

His expression softened again as he smiled at me, choosing to move from leaning against the tree to the side of it and leaning back, facing the sky and extending his arms backwards for support. As he threw his head back, his hat slowly fell off of his head onto the grass behind him and his copper curls tumbled down and reflected in the light of the sun beaming down on him. He just let out a small sigh and stayed in his relaxed position whilst I edged my way closer to the tree he was next to. He didn't respond to my movement so I shifted nearer to it, observing the small carvings made in the bottom. I'd seen that Kyle had etched his name onto the trunk a long time ago in a successful attempt at claiming it as his, but now there were three more names engraved underneath it. The letters were much smaller than the redhead's name, but they spelled out the names of his friends; Stan, Kenny, Cartman. I didn't see why their names were on there, it's not like they had any claims to that tree. In fact, Kyle usually went there when he was annoyed at them for whatever reason (it usually had something to do with them trying to get back at us and him not wanting to be a part of it), so it made no sense whatever that their names were on there.

"Kyle?"

"Yeah?" he kept his gaze fixed on the sky as he murmured his response softly.

"What's wrong?"

The redhead stayed silent for a moment before sighing, "Nothing. Why would there be something wrong?"

"Because you only come here when you have work to do or when you're irritated at something. You're not doing any work right now, so I just kind of assumed that there's something wrong," he didn't respond so I carried on, "Is it something to do with those assholes you call your friends?"

His head jerked upwards as he scowled at me, "They're not assholes, Craig. And how do you even know that?"

I ignored the question, "Yeah they are. But that's not what I'm asking. What's wrong?"

He let out another annoyed sigh before sitting up straight again and rolling his eyes at me, "Noth-"

"Yes there is."

"Fine, there's something wrong, but I can't tell you what it is, so please stop asking," he looked more upset than annoyed at that point so I just stayed silent as he sat with his legs pulled into his chest as he stared at the ground.

He looked so frail and timid, completely different from the relaxed person he had been a few moments before. I regretted asking, but I was even more curious as to what it was that he was thinking. He looked scared and he pulled his phone out of his pocket and glowered at the screen as he stared at whatever had been sent to him. I didn't like seeing him like this, even though we hadn't really interacted much until that last two days, I'd always enjoyed observing him from a distance and even when things were bad he'd be the one who was calm and collected and stopping all of his stupid friends from killing themselves. Those guys really were assholes. Not Kyle though, there's just something about him that made me hate him a little less than the rest of them. Well, at lot less actually. But I wasn't there to make friends. I was there to get a job done.

I quickly jumped up and stood in front of Kyle as he continued to avoid eye-contact, "So when do you want to make the poster? Did you want to do it today?"

Wow, Craig Tucker actually suggesting to do a project at a time that's before the day its due; there's something you don't see every day. However, Kyle didn't seem to recognize the achievement.

He stayed silent as he glanced at his phone again before mumbling, "I was meant to meet up with the guys after school today... but I guess I could do that instead. Whatever."

I frowned slightly, "We don't have to do it today if you don't want to. We don't have to do it at all, actually. It was just an idea; we don't have to go through with it."

He gazed up at me with his eyes still sad but we offered a weak smile, "No, it's a good idea. We can do it today, I'm fine with that."

"You sure?" he nodded his head quickly, "Well, okay then. I guess... I'll just go now then."

His lips parted slowly as if he was going to speak, but he just sighed quietly and closed his mouth again. I stuffed my hands back into my pockets and walked away. I didn't like seeing Kyle upset, but there was nothing that I could do about it, especially if he wasn't going to tell me why, so the best thing I could do was to just leave him to relax under his tree.

* * *

**A/N: Hi-llo!**

**I've made this chapter a bit longer than my usual ones to make up for the last one, so hopefully you liked it :) **

**So what do you think so far? I really like knowing what you think about what I'm writing; what you like and what you might not, so don't feel shy when it comes to reviewing! I mean it doesn't even have to be long, I just like to know that you're out there! I'm so grateful for the ones so far, so thanks guys!**

**Oh and to 'INeedCoffeeArghhh', saying you rushed straight to read it, like omg, you don't actually know how much that meant to me :3 xx**

**SO, Any guesses as to why Kyle's so upset? It's pretty obvious actually, if you look closely enough :P Or maybe it's just because I know already... meh.**

**I love writing this story though, so expect another update pretty soon!**

**Okay then, ma'lovelies, bye!**

**^.^**

**XXX**


	9. The Pretty Princess

Kyle

As we made the silent journey to Craig's house again after school, I couldn't help but feel anxious. For the entire afternoon I had been utterly depressed by how things had progressed over the last two days. The noirette had made it pretty clear that he had absolutely no intentions of making a truce with 'those assholes I call my friends' and so it seemed a lot more likely now that I was just in the centre of some big plot that was ultimately going to backfire on me. I tried to work out what exactly it was, but I couldn't. All I could do was hope that Craig would accidently reveal something that I could use against him in our defense like Cartman had told me to do in the first place. I should have just agreed straight away instead of asking questions and giving him a reason to make me suck his balls. Fuck Cartman. Manipulative asshole.

"Are you still upset or annoyed or whatever?" Craig asked me monotonously, staring out at the road ahead of him.

"Yes," I didn't see the point in lying; I was terrible at it, anyway.

"Oh. That's a bit of a bummer."

"Why?" my eyebrow arched at him.

"Just," he shrugged his shoulders lazily, before letting out a quiet sigh, "Things'll turn out to be fine between you lot though. They always do."

I didn't understand Craig. Craig Tucker. The guy who I had always assumed was this really horrible person. But he wasn't. Although he didn't really know how to console me in any way, I got the sense that he actually cared about the responses I gave him, even if he then didn't show any reaction whatsoever. I stared at him as his blank expression looked into the distance and I tried to work out what he was thinking. Once again I drew a blank; he was impossible to read. He probably trained himself to be able to do that though, like I can't for the life of me control my feelings and emotions; I can't hide them, everyone knows exactly how I feel all of the time because I can't help but let them out. It's fucking horrible, but I guess I just have to live with it.

I decided to change the subject before I got too lost in my own thoughts, "So, are you sure you have all the supplies and stuff we need to make the poster?"

"Yeah, my sister has all of our art stuff in her room because I hate it cluttering mine; we can just use some of that."

"Will she mind?"

"I don't know. I don't care," he glanced at me, with another odd but blank look on his face, "You ask her."

"What?"

"She seems to like you. You ask her if we can use them, she'll be more likely to let us."

"I barely know her, dude. She was in one of my brothers classes once, I think. That's about the only time I've met her."

"Well she apparently knows you," we turned so that we were walking up the path towards the door of the Tucker house, "Aparently _everyone_ knows you. So you're going to be the one to ask her."

I frowned at the idea but as I entered the home I watched as Craig repeated the same ritual he had the day before; throwing his bag and coat down, disappearing into the kitchen, returning and disappearing up the stairs without a word to me in the process. I proceeded to bolt up the stairs following him, but frowned when I saw him leaning on the wall next to the door patiently waiting.

"Go on," he pointed in the opposite direction to a door on the other side of the hall, "Make it quick."

He vanished into his room, shutting the door behind him before I had a chance to protest. I reluctantly made my way over to her door and knocked on it quickly to see the small ginger girl appear in the doorway beaming up at me only moments later.

"Kyle!"

I internally sighed at her enthusiasm to see me, I still wasn't feeling in that good of a mood, but I still smiled as I saw her, "Hey, Ruby."

"You're back already? Wow, you must be really good friends with my brother."

"Er...Well, I don't think he'd agree with that, but can we-"

She cut me off before I could finish asking for the supplies we needed, "But he rarely lets friends come here, so you must be," she grinned as she stared up at me.

Instead of disagreeing I just chose to accept what she had said, "Fine, we're friends. Can we borrow some like, arty stuff? We're making some posters so do you have any card or pens or crayons or any of those kinds of things?"

She didn't respond but she hurriedly got behind me and pushed me into the room and onto her chair; the same one I had sat on the day before. She then smiled at me and began digging through a large cupboard at the side of her room.

"So is that a yes…?"

Once again she failed to reply but she squealed happily as she appeared to find something. She pulled whatever it was out and held it behind her back.

"Close your eyes, Kyle," she beamed.

"What?" I raised my eyebrow skeptically, "Why? What did you find?"

"You'll know when you close your eyes!"

After a bit of hesitation on my part she rolled her eyes at me as I eventually closed my eyes reluctantly. I put my hands out in front of me, expecting her to place something in them, but for a moment I didn't feel anything touch them. Just as I was about to open my eyes I felt something brush against my head.

"Okay, open!" she was still grinning widely in front of me, but now she was gripping tightly at my hat tightly.

I tried to make a grab for it, but she stepped back quickly, "Ruby, why do you have my hat?"

"Because you can't wear a tiara with a hat on, silly!" she pushed me towards her mirror and my eyes widened in horror at the sight.

"What the hell?" I attempted to grab the shiny plastic tiara off of my curly hair, but she swatted my hand away before I was successful.

"No, leave it on, you look really pretty!" she started giggling, guiding me back to the chair.

"Pretty? Urgh…" I moaned loudly.

"Hey, have you got the stuff yet Brof-" Craig came sauntering into the room, a bored expression on his face before he caught sight of me.

I don't know what exactly was going through his head, but I could feel my face burning redder by the second. He just stood and stared at me for a moment, his face blank, but then the edges of his mouth began to twitch as he bit down on his lips to stop himself from smirking at me. I attempted to speak, but nothing came out of my mouth and I ended up opening and closing it like a fish. Craig appeared to bite down on his lips harder and he quickly turned around and darted out of the room without another word.

"Ooh, I found it!" Ruby had returned to searching her cupboard during the awkward encounter and she pulled out something again; her voice cheery as she turned to face me again.

"The poster stuff?"

"Not exactly," her grin was devious as she lunged at me and threw a long and beaded plastic necklace over my head, "But I'll look for that now- if you keep all that stuff on. If you don't, I won't let you use it."

"Isn't that blackmail?" I sighed, leaning on my arm lazily; I really couldn't be bothered to argue the point very far.

"Not if it makes you pretty!" her wide eyes blinked at me happily before she turned back away, her hands running quickly through the random stuff she had.

Pretty. Fuck that fucking word. When it's used on girls, that's totally fine, but I hate it when people call _me_ pretty. Because they do it all the time. Especially Kenny because he does it purposely knowing that it pisses me off. And it really does piss me off. A lot. I'm a dude, dude's aren't meant to be referred to as 'pretty'; it just isn't right. It's not my fault that some of my features might be described as a bit 'feminine'. And it's definitely not my fault that my hair was. It's Stan's fault that he still can't stand up to his fucking sister.

A few years ago, about when we started high school Shelly Marsh had approached me whilst I was staying at their house asking me if she could use my hair as practice when she made the random decision that she wanted to go to beauty school. Stupid me assumed I had a choice in the matter, but as soon as I said 'no' she got angry and punched her younger brother in the arm and threatened that if I didn't let her do it she would beat us up and then shave both our heads in our sleep. And I didn't doubt that she was being fully serious. So I kind of had no choice.

Very surprisingly to us, she was pretty good at it. After pulling me into their bathroom, she started by cutting off a giant chuck of my hair that kind of scared the hell out of me, but before I could even react she thrust my head under the shower and started aggressively rubbing in a concoction of different shampoos, conditioners and whatever else she had into my hair. As she finished washing it all out, she just sighed as she saw me frown at her and carried on with her task uncaring. By the time she had finished, she had my hair snipped even more and although it was still curly, it fell down by my cheeks instead of standing high in my normal 'jewfro'. According to her it 'framed my face beautifully' and it 'brought out my eyes' which made me frown even more. When I asked Stan what he thought of my new look, he just stared at me in confusion, horror but also an attempt at support. It was a shit attempt though.

Whilst trying to make me feel better, he tried to come up with a suitable adjective to finish, 'it looks really…' and he ended up using 'pretty'. We both cringed as soon as he had said it, but Shelly was beaming and warned that if I attempted to ruin her 'perfect hairdressing skills' then we would both ultimately pay the price. So I ended up leaving it like that, constantly hidden by my hat of course, but having to regularly go back to her so that she could carry on playing around with my hair. I don't take my hat off often because of that reason, but when I did at least one person always seemed to burst out with the 'p' word. I fucking hated it.

* * *

Craig

"You look like a chick," I commented as Kyle came back into the room, his arms heavily laden with art supplies and the tiara still firmly positioned on his head and necklace hanging around his neck.

"Piss off," he growled angrily, dumping the stuff on top of my chest as I lay with my hands behind my head on my bed, letting a very small smirk make its way onto my face which he just frowned at.

"Why do you have half of my sister's old princess costume on?" I pushed the stuff off of me and scooted over so he could sit next to me.

"Because I couldn't be bothered to protest against it," he shrugged his shoulders, threw his backpack over by the door and he dropped down by my side, his arm brushing against mine and giving me that weird feeling I always got when he touched me in some way; it was really starting to confuse me as to why it did that, but I didn't want to think about that at that moment.

"So you just let her make you look like a princess?"

"Pretty much," he laughed half-heartedly, "But at least it means we can use all this stuff without her complaining now," he started looking through the multitude of items.

I couldn't really get to them without having to reach across him and I thought that that would be pretty awkward, especially considering the day before, so I let him look around as I got up and cleared a space on the floor that we could work in. Kyle handed me a large piece of poster card and slid off of the bed onto the floor, sitting crossed legged, looking deep in thought.

"What?" I asked, sitting beside him.

I'm pretty sure his eyebrow quirked slightly at my close positioning so I scooched away a bit and leaned back so that there was a reasonable distance between us. There was absolutely no reason to find the whole moment extremely awkward. None whatsoever.

"Well, we decided to do a poster," he started slowly after a few seconds of silence, "But we didn't really say what about."

"Oh. Right," I watched as he started to think again as I actually attempted to do the same; I did promise him that I was going to help him that day.

"Maybe we could… No…. But what if we…. No, that's stupid…" he began to grimace as he rejected his own ideas before he had fully voiced them.

I couldn't help but let another small smile appear my face as he started to look more and more frustrated with himself. It wasn't that I like seeing him irritated, because I didn't; it was just that he looked really, well, cute whilst he did. Even though cute is obviously not the word I would want to use, I just can't think of another one. Obviously. That would be really gay. It was just the way that his curly copper hair hung around his thin face and his naturally pink cheeks contrasted with the rest of his pale skin combined with that stupid tiara and necklace that I enjoyed gazing at whilst he was deep in concentration.

Suddenly, Kyle's large emerald eyes widened as he jumped up off of the ground and headed towards the door, before I called out, "Where're you going, princess?"

He glared at me and flipped me off for calling him that, but then a small smirk graced his lips; probably at the irony. He didn't answer me though and he ran out before I could ask again. I rolled my eyes and pulled my cell phone out of my jeans pocket to see if I'd gotten any messages. I had one from Token telling me that he and Clyde had finally decided that they definitely doing the arcade idea and things were pretty much planned so I just sighed and placed it back in my pocket. I still wasn't that interested, really.

Kyle came back in the room a few minutes later, a small smile still on his face.

"So where did you go, then?" I asked, leaning backwards leisurely.

"We've been looking at this all wrong, dude," he smiled at me and although I was a bit annoyed that he still wasn't answering my question I subconsciously smiled back which seemed to make his own one increase slightly.

He probably wasn't used to seeing me smile; I wasn't used to it myself. I just couldn't seem to control it whilst I was around the redhead. That's a problem I probably should have tried to sort out. But I didn't. Stupid asshole.

"Why, what did we do wrong?"

"What's the best way of promoting food?" he paused for a moment but before I had time to think of a reply he jumped back in, "Letting people eat it! Or at least giving or selling samples of some kind," he nodded happily before scrambling over to his backpack by the door and pulling out that massive folder of his.

He got a piece of blank paper and started scribbling on it quickly. I loved watching him when he had an idea; I could just see the cogs whirring inside of his head as he tried to express it all on the paper and his tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth in his concentration.

"Oh, and cake. Cake's the best one," Ruby stuck her head around the door and smiled at Kyle who nodded thankfully at her before she disappeared again.

What the hell? "So are you going to tell me what's going on or not?" I asked impatiently.

He sighed and rolled his eyes, "I went to ask your sister what she thought the best way to convince her to eat healthily was and she said to give her some that tasted nice. So that's what we'll have to do."

"So we're just going to present some fruit or something as our project?" I cocked my eyebrow, confused.

"No. We're going to have to either find or make some normal snacks that kids eat regularly and make them healthy. It shouldn't be too hard, plus if we actually make some stuff ourselves then we'll probably get some extra credit as seen as its home-ec, right?" he eagerly continued writing away.

"Make stuff? That seems like a lot of effort," I frowned, "And all I can make is toast," he chuckled lightly but he didn't look up from his paper, "But actually, I can't make that anymore because I don't have a properly functioning toaster anymore."

I sighed quietly at the annoying memory and Kyle just let out another small laugh ,"What?" I just shurgged before he put the paper to one side, "Okay, whatever, so what should we make? Your sister said cake, cookies and ice cream are her favorite snacks, so which do you want to do?"

"Which one is easiest?" although I was being completely serious the redhead smirked at the comment.

"Maybe we should do a survey or something and see which one most people like the most," he leaned backwards against the edge of my bed pondering the idea.

Typical Kyle, always trying to make us do way more work than was actually necessary, so I chose to avoid it, "Or we could just do cake. I like cake, my sister likes cake; do you like cake?"

"Er, yeah I guess."

"Fine, so we'll make a cake."

"Okay," he smiled at me before grabbing back at his paper to write it down.

Him and his fucking note taking. It made me feel like I'd been totally slacking off in all my other assignments, especially for other classes; if he put this much effort into home economics, imagine how much he must do for the lessons that actually mattered. I wasn't annoyed though, I was pretty relieved that I was going to definitely do well on this project and it was already turning out better than I had expected.

I felt a small vibration in my pocket again and sighed to myself knowing that it would be either Token or Clyde but I checked it anyway.

*Clyde- we're gonna go 2 Tweek's on Saturday mornin 2 surprise him b4 tha party that nite so we can giv him his presents nd stuff. its gonna b epic bro!*

"Hey, Kyle…?" I hesitated as he glanced up at me, still smiling warmly.

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing on Saturday?"

* * *

**A/N: Hello!**

**I hope you're all well :3**

**I don't think I have much to say really, so thanks for all the reads and follows and favourites and reviews, you guys are awesome! I hope you find a bit of time to leave another one for this chapter, they make me smile :)**

**Kyle's a princess! :D Hahahahahaha.**

**Love you all, **

**^.^ **

**XXX**


	10. The Wall

Kyle

"Er... I don't know yet, probably just hanging with the guys, I guess. Why?"

"Well... I... had another idea," he paused for a moment, as if he were contemplating what he was about to say, "We could make this cake thing and give some samples of it to Tweek, Token and Clyde and if they like it we can make more. So we can have, like, feedback or whatever," I couldn't help but smile at the boy's nonchalance as he said the words.

It was a good idea; I'd hate it if we made loads of cakes and then found out that nobody actually liked them meaning we would have wasted a lot of time, effort and money. Getting feedback before hand was a good plan and so I agreed almost instantly at the proposal. He didn't respond afterwards, he just gave me a small nod and went back to staring at the paper in front of him.

"Hey, princess, what are we writing on these posters then?" he glanced at me and smirked slightly when he saw me glare back.

"We just need to write stuff about healthy snacks and stuff. And like, stuff that tells them to buy our cakes."

"So I just draw something to do with cake?"

"If you think that will attract people to buy stuff, then I guess, yeah," I shrugged my shoulders and leaned back against the edge of Craig's bed, watching his hand move back and forth against the card quickly as he sketched an outline of something.

It was weird to see him drawing like that. Even though I don't take it, I know Craig takes art class because one time last year the guys had managed to get about ten buckets of paint to drop on his head as he opened the art supply closet (even though I didn't approve of the whole concept of their constant attempts at revenge, it was pretty funny seeing him run through the halls after my friends, livid, his body dripping wet with thick purple and pink paint) and so I had assumed that he was quite good at any sort of arty stuff. His hand motioned swiftly, not stopping for a moment as he made large curves and long lines in his draft sketch. His lips were still pressed into its usual straight line, but there was a look of concentration twinkling in his eyes as he put all of his attention into the picture.

I wanted to get a better look of what he was doing because although it was fascinating from a distance just to watch him draw, I wanted to see what exactly it was he was sketching. I slowly crept up behind him, peering over his shoulder whilst he was bent on his knees over the giant piece of paper. I could hear his breathing, it was quiet and slow as his wrist flicked back and forth in front of him. The basic outline of his drawing was coming to life; it was just a picture of someone eating a giant slice of cake, but already it was much better than anything I could ever do. I let out a soft 'wow' as I stared at it, but immediately after his body tensed up and his hand stopped.

"What are you doing?" he muttered in a hushed tone, his eyes still fixed intently in front of him.

"Watching," I replied quietly, slightly leaning back away from him.

"Well don't."

"Why not?" I frowned but moved back so I was positioned next to his bed.

"You're distracting. I can't do this with you hovering over me. I can't concentrate."

"How am I distracting you?"

He sighed quietly before continuing to draw, "You just are, dude."

"Whatever," I shrugged my shoulders lazily as I started to gawp around the room again.

My stare fell on the decorated wall on the far side of the room, the one I had noticed the afternoon before. I shuffled across the dark carpet on my hands and knees and perched next to it, gazing at the multitude of sketchings and drawings adorning it. They were hand drawn, almost definitely all by Craig, and they all seemed to depict different people or animals of some kind.

The first picture that caught my attention was a large one in the bottom right hand corner of the wall, "Hey, Craig?"

"What?"

"Is this you and Clyde?"

His head lifted so he was looking at me and I directed his gaze to the drawing next to me. He nodded his head slowly before dipping it back down to carry on with the poster. The hand drawn picture on the wall was of the two boys, Clyde grinning widely with his arm around Craig, whose face was scowling.

"Why did you draw yourself like that?"

"Because that's how I usually look in photos. It's accurate," he hadn't looked up, but he obviously knew what I was talking about.

I frowned, "Then why don't you smile in photos?"

"Why would I? There's nothing good about getting pushed in front of camera lens and some dickhead thinking that the word 'cheese' is going to make me any happier than I was before he said it."

"You're so negative about everything," I sighed lightly, seeing his eyebrow quirk as his hand continued to move around.

"No I'm not."

"Yeah you are, you like, rarely ever smile."

"Yes I do. It's just that you rarely get to see it."

"Why?"

"Because whenever I'm anywhere near you, you're hanging out with those assholes," his voice sounded slightly bitter but uncaring and it made me a bit annoyed, but then in a much more hushed and barely audible tone I heard him sigh, "But when you're not with them..."

He didn't finish the sentence, or at least at a volume I could hear, so I decided to interject, "I don't hang out with assholes, Craig."

"Yes you do, Broflovski."

"Well... Cartman is, but the other two aren't assholes at all."

He stayed silent and he rolled his eyes as he carried on doing what he was doing. I just sighed and turned back to the wall to continue scanning its contents. There were lots of pictures of Craig and his gang in various spots over it and also quite a lot of pictures of guinea pigs and various other animals. The most disturbing parts of the wall, however, were the ones that were in the bottom left hand corner. They were simple little cartoon sketches, but were all really violent and creepy, but what made it worse was that they were pictures of my friends. Stan, Cartman, Kenny; all three of them were being put through a variety of different types of torture on the wall.

'What the fuck?' I thought as I analysed each one. It was pretty easy to know who was who; Stan was the muscular one, Cartman the fat one and Kenny the tall skinny one. It was simple enough so that you could make no mistake as to who they were. There was Stan getting stabbed in the head with a machete, Cartman getting all of his limbs amputated, Stan getting choked to death, Kenny getting ran over by a monster truck, Stan falling off of the edge of a cliff, Cartman getting electrocuted and lots more, but weirdly most of them appeared to be containing Stan.

I spent a while staring at them, thoughts rushing around my head as I worried about what I was observing. I wouldn't care if they were all about Cartman, screw that fat tub of lard, but because they were about Stan it was extremely unsettling. Craig really hated my best friend. So much so that he had a vast amount of different ways of killing him on his bedroom wall. It made me much more tense as I glanced between the wall and the seemingly calm boy only a couple feet away from me; it was strange to think that inside of his relaxed composure his mind was pretty damn fucked up.

But what was just as bad was that if this is how he really felt about my friends, well, I was going to end up sucking Cartman's balls. Oh, crap.

* * *

Craig

Unexpectedly, I was really starting to enjoy doing this project. Art has always been something I've loved, especially when there are no boundaries and I can do whatever I want. I love having the freedom to just let all of your ideas flow, nothing holding you back and no fucktards telling you what you can and can't do. As I don't like letting people know how I'm feeling, I often let out all my thoughts in my artwork, although I don't let people see those either. Most of what I draw is for me and for me only, that's why a lot of my favourite work is on my bedroom wall; very few people get to see it.

Kyle definitely wasn't meant to see it. From the corner of my eye I could see that he was staring at it intently, his thin fingers tracing over the outlines of each sketch, his own eyes narrowed. He looked more upset than angry as he muttered quietly to himself, his back arched down as he attempted to look at the ones right at the bottom.

"You should probably stop looking at those," I murmured over to him, still concentrating on the poster in front of me.

His head jerked upwards with an irritated frown, "Why are they even on here in the first place? That's totally sick dude..."

"It's not. They were my plans for revenge. You're lucky I didn't go through with them all."

"Well you attempted some of them. I remember..." he growled, looking at a picture of his three friends drowning; I remember that day too, that trip to the pool was hilarious.

"Yep," I continued sketching the detailed picture in front of me, not really concentrating on whatever Kyle had continued saying; he seemed pretty pissed off though. Whenever I was in the midst of doing something creative, however, everything else had to take second priority.

"_Craig_!" I lifted my head reluctantly when I heard him call my name.

He had made his way over so that he was crouched on the opposite end of the paper, face close to mine as he was staring at me with narrowed eyes, "What?" I eventually choked out.

"What exactly is your problem? The whole football thing was a misunderstanding, it could have been easily sorted out, why do you hate us so much?"

I stayed quiet for a moment before slowly dropping my head back down and carrying on my drawing, "Us? No, Broflovski, I don't hate you. It's the others I hate."

"But, _why_? And why am I not on the wall like they are?" he practically pleaded, he sounded like he wanted to either cry or rip my head off at any moment, it was actually pretty amusing though, so I couldn't help but smirk.

"Because as I've already told you, princess, they're all assholes. _Especially_ that bastard you call your 'best friend'," I unintentionally spat the words out as I refused to look up at him, "But _you've_ never done anything to make me want you to die a painful death, so you don't need to be on that part of my wall. I thought you'd be happy about that," I chuckled darkly.

"Stop calling me princess!" I didn't look up, but I could feel him scowling at me as he spoke, "But can't you just put your differences behind you? Stan didn't mean-"

"Don't. Don't do that," I felt my eyes narrow as I glanced at him again, "Don't try and make excuses for him. He knows everything he's doing."

"I'm not making excuses; I just want you to try to understand that things don't need to be like this!"

"I don't see anything wrong with the way things are," I watched him sitting across from me as his pleading eyes stared back at me.

"You see nothing wrong with you all being at each other's throats all the time? You see nothing wrong with the thoughts of revenge swarming around your head each day? You see nothing wrong with the fact that you have pictures of my friends _being tortured _on your wall?"

"Nope."

"Damn it, dude! You should! It's not normal!" he was obviously getting heated, his face was beginning to tint to a light shade of red whilst his hands gestured wildly in the air, nearly hitting me in the process.

I chuckled quietly to myself, "Well nothing's normal in the fucking town, you of all people should know tha-" before I could carry on, I felt Kyle's hand firmly grasp itself around my wrist making me unable to carry on drawing.

"Please, Craig, you don't even have to bother with the fat ass, just give Stan and Kenny the chance. _Please_," his eyes were wide as he stared into mine and he was chewing anxiously on his bottom lip.

I tried to speak, but my mouth just opened and closed gormlessly. His clutch was tight, but in a way it was still soft. The contact baffled me. I didn't know how to respond, so I chose to sit there and see how long it would take for him to let go. He didn't though; he stayed attached to me for ages, not looking away from my face as I tried hard to avoid spending too long gazing into his emerald eyes. No, not gazing, looking. Just looking.

Just before I eventually tried to make another attempt at speaking, I heard some quiet murmuring coming from behind my door. I unconsciously ripped my arm away from Kyle and went to go and see who it was, although I already had a pretty good idea.

"What the hell are you doing, Ruby?" I groaned, seeing my little sister scrambling up to her feet in the hallway by my door.

"I, er, I was just, I dropped... my phone..." she glanced at me nervously, clutching at her cell phone in her hand tightly.

I could hear the quiet buzz of someone's voice on the other end, but I didn't question it and instead just sighed, "Get the hell away from my room, dude."

"Can I at least say 'hi' to Kyle first?"

"No. You've already made him look more like a chick than he already did, so leave him alone," I rolled my eyes as I pushed her in the direction of her bedroom before she started sulking.

"But he looks really pretty though," she turned around and frowned at me.

"Kyle being 'really pretty' has nothing to do with you being able to see him. Where's his hat anyway?"

"So you agree that he looks really pretty?" her lips curled into a small smile, "And it's in here," she opened the door to her bedroom and stood in the doorway, "You can't have it though."

"Why not?" I quirked my eyebrow, ignoring the first comment as she attempted to close the door in my face, but I stopped it with my foot.

"Because," she slammed harder, making my foot throb as it banged into my toes forcefully, making me impulsively pull it away so that she could close it fully before I heard her say, "I need to give it to Kyle. You can't be trusted."

I didn't have a clue what she talking about, but as I was going to respond I turned around and saw Kyle shuffling out of my bedroom with his jacket and backpack on. He was staring at the ground irritably as he walked in my direction, obviously upset about something.

"I'm gonna go..." his voice sounded dejected as he stopped and stood anxiously in front of me.

"Why?" I frowned.

"I... I've got some stuff to sort out..."

"This isn't because of the stuff I said about Stan and them lot, right?" I sighed as he stayed silent, "Look, I-"

"No, it's alright. It's nothing; I've just got to go... You know, homework and stuff..." he's such a terrible liar.

He tried to push past me quickly, but I caught him by the shoulders so he couldn't. He felt so small and fragile, like if I held him any tighter he would just shatter in my hands. He was still staring at the ground so all I could really see of him from that angle was his curly hair as I looked down at him. I slowly reached for the tiara that was still in his hair, but then lowered my arm back down, leaving it there. He looked nice as a princess.

"At least... At least stay for dinner?" I glanced at my watch and his head bent upwards to face me, "My mom'll probably start cooking soon, but it won't take too long to be ready, I don't think."

I don't know why I asked him to stay. I hate having people in my house as it is, but when they stay for dinner it's even worse. The only person from my school who has had dinner here is Kevin, and that's only because my parents seem to think that it's 'unethical' or some crap to have him stay the night without feeding him. I don't see why they care, personally. But anyway, not even Clyde has had dinner with my family; the rare occasions he's come here instead of us staying at his house we've gone out to eat instead. But something about the saddened redhead made me feel guilty, like I should make it up to him in some way. I don't know why, everything I said and everything that was on the wall was perfectly justified, they're all dicks, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to letting Kyle go home like that. He'd probably jump in front of a car or something. Well, not really, but you get my point.

"Well..."

Before he finished, I started swaying him back in the direction of my bedroom, "Come on, princess."

* * *

**A/N: Aww, why so sad Kyle? Oh right, because your new buddy wants to kill all your friends. **

**So I've Craig a fucking weirdo, I mean, I don't even know what the fuck that was about, I just thought of it and was like LOL a wall of revenge plots, that's awesome. I think I'm going crazy :P**

**So yeah, thanks for putting up with my crazy sadistic shit, I hope you liked it, or at least are able to look past it and wait for the next chapter X-D**

**Oh and to the people who have mentioned the quick updates, it's because it's still the summer holidays in the UK, so I've got a bit more time than I would usually have.**

**I've reached, no SURPASSED, 50 reviews yayyyyy :D It absolutely made my day and I was (and still am) so happy, you guys are freaking awesome!**

**Stay beautiful! **

**^.^**

** XXX**


	11. The Dinner

Craig

I felt his body tense at the name 'princess', but he didn't speak. Instead he dropped his bag back down by my door, got comfortable next to my bed and carried on staring at me whilst I continued drawing on the poster. At one point I ran down stairs to notify my mother that he was going to be joining us, but when I came back he was still waiting there patiently, looking deep in thought.

"What'chu thinking about?" I asked casually as I flopped back onto the floor.

He stayed silent so I picked back up some pencil crayons and began shading in the poster. I was pretty proud of my drawing actually; it seemed to be coming along rather nicely. I didn't really care that Kyle hadn't responded; I didn't expect him too. He seemed so absorbed by whatever he was thinking about that I'd be surprised if he had even heard me at all.

A while afterwards, there was a knock on the door and my sister poked her head around it, "Mom said it's time for dinner."

"Yeah, whatever, we'll be down in a sec," I nodded my head at her as she did the same back and disappeared.

Kyle didn't appear to show any signs of movement, so I crawled over to where he was sitting on the floor and poked at him gently. His eyes blinked and turned to me, but he still didn't seem to be fully concentrating.

"Come on dude, it's time for dinner."

"Why am I not on your wall?" he glanced over at it and stared back at me expectantly as I sighed.

"What? You've already asked that. You haven't done anything that makes me want to get revenge on you, so why should you be on there? Do you want to be or something? 'Cause that's weird dude."

His eyebrow quirked slightly, "The whole thing is weird, Craig. But is that really why? Or are you just saying that because this is all one big scheme that you're not telling me about? Like you want me to feel like we're friends and then it's all going to backfire on us somehow?"

I jerked back slightly, confused by the accusation, "What the hell? Why would you even think that?"

"I just don't get it," he groaned loudly before hauling himself up and walking over to the door, "I don't get any of it. So if you've got some giant plot that you're going to put in place at some point, can you just do it sooner rather than later?"

He turned away from me as I ran up behind him, "Look, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, but I haven't got 'some giant plot' planned. Why would I?"

"That's exactly what someone who was planning something would say," he chuckled darkly to himself.

"Jesus Christ, Broflovski, _you're_ the one who asked to be _my_ partner in this project, not the other way around! How was I meant to know that you were going to come to my house and look at my wall? I wouldn't go through all the trouble of drawing all that shit and not including you to try and prove a fake point! What is this about? Did Stan, Kenny or Cartman set you up to think that?"

He looked contemplative for a moment, but then gave me a relaxed smile, "Forget I said anything, I'm just being too over-analytical. Okay, let's go eat," that boy is fucking crazy.

I rolled my eyes irritably and began walking down the stairs, him following behind me, but as we got to the bottom, I realized something, "You'd better take this off, princess."

I stopped in front of him, gently taking the tiara off of his head, making sure it didn't get caught in any of his tangles of curls as he stood silently in front of me. When I got it off, he reached to take off the beaded necklace before we placed them down on the coffee table.

"Er, thanks," he mumbled before I lead him towards the dining room.

As we entered the room, I could smell the delicious aromas of the food that was already laid out on the table. Normally we just eat whatever we can heat in the microwave as our dinner and ate it whenever we were hungry and on the couch in front of the TV, but that evening my mom had actually decided to cook something properly for us all to eat together for once. It was all laid out nicely on the rarely used patterned table cloth, the food on the fancy plates instead of our regular plain ones and the cutlery was arranged neatly unlike the way they're usually dumped in the middle of the table. My mom had obviously thought it necessary to make an effort.

The rest of my family were already seated so we awkwardly took the spare two seats, waiting for someone to say something.

"Thank you for having me for dinner, Mr and Mrs Tucker," Kyle started, giving a small smile to my parents who beamed back at him.

"It's our pleasure, son. It's not often our Craig brings his friends around for dinner, it's nice to know he has some," my dad chuckled, nodding his head at the redhead.

"I have loads of friends," I replied in annoyance, flipping my father off.

He rolled his eyes and did it back and out of the corner of my eye I saw Kyle's eyebrow arch at the gestures. We all began to eat quietly, random chit chat being thrown around the table, although I didn't really participate. I was spending more time listening to the answers the redhead next to me was giving to the various questions being fired his way.

Although I could tell he was tense, he answered them with ease, giving short responses that satisfied whatever it was my parents wanted to know before quickly putting another forkful of food into his mouth before they could ask any follow up. It was amusing to watch the way he dodged certain questions or answered them really diplomatically, like when my parents asked:

"So how long have you and Craig been such good friends?"

I hesitated at the query, not really sure how he would respond, but he calmly replied, "Well it's hard to say, but we've known each other for a very long time because we went to the same elementary school," he smiled politely and then continued eating as I let out a quiet sigh of relief at his diplomatic response.

I knew it was unlikely that he would, but I wouldn't want him to mention any of the rivalry shit, that would just make things really awkward, especially if my parents started poking their noses around in our business.

"So do you have a girlfriend?" as he had been in the midst of putting food into his mouth, Kyle looked like he was about to choke as he heard the question.

After glaring at me after I smacked him forcefully on the back in amusement to 'help him', he coughed out a small "no" before continuing, "I don't have a girlfriend. I think it's more important to focus on my schoolwork."

"Well, that's dedication!" my dad chuckled deeply, "I wish that was the reason Craig doesn't have one, but I doubt that it is. He's just anti-social, that's all."

"Whatever. I think you're starting to annoy him with all your questions," I sighed loudly as my dad carried on laughing at his own 'joke' (which wasn't even a funny one- I am _not_ anti-social.)

"No, it's okay," Kyle glanced at my annoyed face before smiling back at my parents.

He was obviously just trying to be polite, so my parents returned to talking to each other and to Ruby as Kyle and I ate silently. I noticed the redhead look a little more relaxed after seemingly being on trial and I couldn't help but give a small smile to myself. I think he saw because he glanced at me again and turned away with a grin on his own face, but it didn't really bother me that much that he'd noticed.

When we all finished eating, Kyle had even attempted to help my mother clear everything away, "No, that's alright, dear. I wish my own kids were as helpful as you were, though," she smiled at him before gathering up the plates and cutlery and bringing them into the kitchen.

"So how long are you staying for, son? You staying the night like that Kevin boy always does when they have projects due in the next day?" my dad was back talking to the redhead next to me.

He glanced in my direction for a moment with a confused look but quickly returned his attention to my dad, "Er, no, sir. Ours isn't due in tomorrow, we were getting it done early. I'll be going quite soon, I guess. There's not much more we can do tonight."

"Getting it done early, eh? Doesn't sound like my boy. You must be a really good kid if you're getting Craig to actually do some work for once."

My father was really starting to piss me off, but I stayed silent as Kyle calmly replied, "Well, he's done a lot of it without my help. In fact, he's the one who suggested we got some done today."

"Wow, well I'm proud of you, son," my dad got up and patted me firmly on the back before walking out of the room and into the kitchen and I couldn't help but smile gratefully at the redhead for actually standing up for me instead of just going along with my father's crap.

As Kyle, Ruby and I sat in silence, my sister was the first to break the ice, "You took off the tiara, Kyle."

The redhead gave a light-hearted chuckle, "Actually, Craig took it off of me. So technically it wasn't my fault."

"Whatever. Come on, let's go watch TV," she hopped up out of her seat, grabbed Kyle's hand and pulled him into the living room.

"Ruby? Ruby, what are you doing...?" I called out after them.

"We're watching TV."

"No, dude, Kyle wants to go home," as I entered the room, I looked at him as he was being lead onto the couch.

"No, he wants to stay and watch TV with me. Don't you Kyle?"

He glanced down at his hand that was still being squeezed tightly by my sister, "I-"

"Stop being a stupid bitch, Ruby. You can't watch TV with him, Kyle's not here to be your friend, leave him alone."

"It's not like you're being a very good friend to him, though!" she huffed.

"What? How? Actually, you know what, I don't care. Let go of him, he needs to go home."

"No, I don't want to!" she shuffled closer to him on the couch as he attempted to squirm away from her; she was such a stubborn bitch sometimes.

"He obviously doesn't want to watch TV with you, just _let go_!" I growled in annoyance.

"He does! Tell him, Kyle!" she turned to him, putting on her best 'cute' face, complete with wide smile and puppy dog eyes.

"I..." he glanced between us before sighing, "I guess I could stay for another half an hour..."

"You're a fucking sell-out, Broflovski," I grumbled, flopping down next to him so that he was sandwiched between us.

"Well, what else am I meant to do?" he whispered to me with a frown.

"I don't know; how about say 'no'?" I replied sarcastically, crossing my arms against my chest.

"We can't all be as blunt as you are, you know," he rolled his eyes before turning back to the screen.

"Whatever," I nudged him with my elbow playfully as he did the same back.

I don't know what the hell my sister had us watching, but Kyle and I continued nudging and whispering and laughing for the next half an hour on the couch while she stayed absorbed to it. She didn't ever let go of his hand, but he attempted to stay as far away from her on the couch as possible, meaning he was pushed up pretty close to me instead, so that he was practically on my lap. I didn't say anything though. At one point he was lying on my shoulder and I was pretty sure he was falling asleep, so I just let him stay there and I let my mind drift until the half an hour was up.

"Okay, seriously, you've had your thirty minutes now, we've gotta go," I jumped up and gripped at Kyle's other hand forcefully, "Come on, dude."

He let me pull him out of the room, after waving goodbye to my sister, and up the stairs with no complaint. When we got to the room, he didn't let go, he just picked his things up with his free hand and let me drag him back down the stairs. As we reached the front door, however, he pulled away so that he could go back into the kitchen to say goodbye to my parents. His constant politeness is pretty fucking annoying.

Whilst we were walking back to his house, he had gone quiet again, but he looked pretty relaxed unlike the night before. It wasn't until we had gotten about half way that I noticed he still didn't have his hat back and as I notified him he grabbed up at his head of curls anxiously, before frowning and letting out a loud groan.

"Oh shit, do you want to go back and get it?" I asked; I'd feel lost if I didn't have my own hat.

He looked thoughtful for a moment, but sighed, "No, I guess one day won't hurt... Can you bring it to school tomorrow?"

"Sure," I nodded and he smiled before he looked back into the distance.

We carried on walking quietly apart from the soft humming I could hear from Kyle and the distant sounds of cars on the roads. We were walking quickly and so it didn't take us long to reach his house. I ended up following him up to his door and we stood there for about a minute in silence.

"So... I'll see you tomorrow, I guess?" I shuffled in my place, rubbing my arms for warmth.

"Er, yeah. See you tomorrow," he flashed me a small smile before grabbing at his door knob. As I turned away with my hands in my pockets to leave, however, I heard him call out, "Craig?"

I whipped my head back around quickly and saw him staring at me anxiously, "Yeah?"

"You won't forget my hat, will you?"

I chuckled to myself, "No, I'll make sure you get your hat back, princess."

* * *

**A/N: What I hope you're saying to yourself: "Their sexual tension is freaking killing me."**

**What you're probably saying to yourself: "What is this crap I'm reading?"**

**So to all the people asking questions like why does he hate Stan so much, all will be revealed in time ;)**

**I like calling Kyle princess, I don't know why. Plus I think it would annoy the shit out of him, so it's fun to use.**

**Headcanon: If Kyle were a real princess, he would be the fairest in the land. No contest.**

**An entire Craig chapter OMFG! You probably didn't even realize, to be honest.**

**Look how possessive Craig is, he's practically banning Ruby from spending any time with Kyle :P**

**Oh, and did you notice that Craig walked Kyle to his door, even though the night before he said that that was pretty gay? Heh.**

***Hint Hint***

**All thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated! :P**

**^.^ **

**XXX**


	12. The Week

Craig

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. I had made sure that as soon as I got home from Kyle's I literally tackled my sister to the ground and made her give up Kyle's hat so that I could put it in my bag and definitely not forget it the next day. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want to have to do that, but she was pissing me off by not giving it to me willingly and I didn't really have the time or patience to deal with it in any better way. It's not my fault that her arm got crushed as a result, it's her own.

Kyle's face lit up like a freaking Christmas tree when I gave it back to him. He put it on immediately, ripping off the one he already had on in exchange for his own. It had been Stan's hat actually, which I found pretty weird (and slightly irritating). When I asked him about it, he just mumbled something about him really needing a hat and Stan offering to give him his. I guess they're just such good 'super best friends' that that's the kind of thing they do for each other. I dismissed it. I didn't really give a shit about Stan, he's a motherfucking asshole. But I couldn't help but smirk at how casually he tossed away Stan's hat to take back the one I was giving to him. I like to think there was some kind of hidden message in there, even though I obviously know there wasn't, but the thought of one-upping that smug bastard is one that I enjoy.

We had done the exchange in our first period class and luckily none of his friends had been there to witness it because I know it would have caused some kind of trouble, but once it reached lunch I spent my third day in a row visiting him under his tree. Once again he failed to show much consideration of my presence and instead carried on reading his new book whilst I lay on the grass next to him waiting for him to finish. It was so peaceful under there, but I couldn't help but wonder where his friends were. I had ditched mine to sneak off up here, but I was pretty sure that his would know he was up there. Maybe he had told them not to come there or something which is what I hoped because I didn't want to be there if they suddenly came running up. Once he had gotten to a point where he wanted to finish reading, he stared at me for a few moments before we just starting talking about random shit for a while. It was strange to chat to him in such a friendly way, but it was a good kind of strange.

At some point, we had decided that we were going to make the cake on the Friday evening so that we could bring it to Harbuck's to meet the guys on the Saturday morning. I had reluctantly agreed to make it at Kyle's house instead of mine, but as the week progressed I was actually starting to enjoy the time we spent together, no matter where it was. We would spend each school break under the tree, whether that was quickly between classes, a lunch break or a free period, using the time to colour in posters and write down any more ideas as well as him helping me with homework for any other subjects we had together (all out of the eyes of our respective groups, that is). He didn't appear to mind me constantly wanting to be there and asking him for help, and occasionally seemed to be pretty enthusiastic about it actually, so I kept going back to him even when my friends asked where I kept going off too. I didn't tell them, I still hadn't told them that I was talking to Kyle at all, let alone abandoning them for him. Well, I wasn't abandoning them, it's not like they can't survive without me. Plus, Clyde and Token were busy party planning all week whilst they found various ways of hiding it all from Tweek, so I don't even think they noticed me being gone. They didn't mention anything when I did go back to them, anyway. Not that I would care, I'd just make something up.

When Friday eventually rolled up, however, I was starting to have second thoughts about going to Kyle's house. Ever since I was a kid, I've seen his mother campaigning and rallying all over town and honestly, she scares the shit out of me. It's no wonder that her redheaded son is so sickly sweet to all the adults he meets; she probably had him growing up in fear of them in general, but most specifically her. I didn't know much about his dad apart from the fact that he was a lawyer. I knew he had a brother, but only as 'that smart Canadian kid'. I thought that going into Kyle's home would be extremely daunting. And it was.

* * *

Kyle

It's weird to think that both Craig and I had willingly spent so much time together that week. We were practically from two different worlds; we were two completely different people. But when we were together, I actually enjoyed having him around. He didn't get all impatient and annoyed when I'd rather read than talk to him like my normal friends would and instead he would just wait and do his own thing until I was done and then we'd sit and talk for ages about random things or he'd ask for my help with some homework and we'd do it together. It was pretty cool considering Stan, Kenny and Cartman are always ripping on me for doing my work early and stuff so it was nice to think that he wasn't judging me for it. I spent more time with Craig than my actual friends that week. He'd come and visit me under my tree everyday and unlike most people, I'd let him stay there because he made me feel like he actually wanted to be there with me and wasn't just there for the sake of it. But that's starting to sound really sappy, so I'm going to stop boring you with that stuff.

On the Friday, we had agreed to meet outside of the school gates so we could walk to my house together. We had our last period class together, but we both needed to visit our lockers and do other stuff so we thought it would be best to do all that and meet up afterwards. When I got to my own locker however, I was greeted by a not so friendly face.

"Wassup, Jew?" he was smirking at me, his chubby face peering around the door of my locker.

"The sky. What do you want, fat ass?" I sighed loudly, closing the door and leaning against it next to my overweight friend.

"I just wanted to come and say hello to my favourite day-walker, that's all," he was grinning at me in that devious way he always did when we were in the middle of a bet.

"Well, say it and get lost," I heaved myself up and started walking away from him as he quickly followed behind me.

"You've barely talked to me all week, Kahl, you can't just push me away like that," still grinning, he leaned a bit closer to me and spoke in a hushed tone, "Well, unless you have a reason. Are you sure there isn't something you're hiding from me? Something along the lines of a secret plot made by Craig that you're too scared to tell us about because you know you'll have lost the bet? Come on Kahl, you can tell me, it'll be easier to tell me alone now than later with witnesses." His 'I beat Kyle' twinkle in his eye made a reoccurrence.

"No, you fat fuck, they're not planning anything! Why do you find that so hard to accept?" I was trying hard not to scream at him, but he just laughed at me.

"Well why haven't they come to make a truce with Stan and Kenny yet? Hmm? It's been a week, Kahl. He's not going to, just admit it," he pulled my arm towards him and twisted my body so that we were staring at each other's faces so that I could see the smug grin on his and he could see the pissed off look on mine.

"I. Admit. Nothing." I growled, pulling my arm away but continuing to stare him down.

After staying like that for a few seconds, he was the first to break away, laughing huskily to himself, "Kahl, Kahl, Kahl. So stubborn."

I was about to retaliate, but I heard Kenny call out from behind us, "Hey, guys!"

"Hey, Kenny. Hey, Stan," I smiled weakly at the two boys approaching us.

"What's going on here, dude?" Stan looked concerned as he glanced between me and the fat boy.

"Nothing," I replied quickly, "Nothing. Cartman's just being his usual annoying self. Okay, I've gotta go, bye-"

"Wait, you're not coming with us?" I attempted to walk away, but Stan grabbed my arm so that I couldn't, "We always go round to mine on a Friday."

"Yeah, but I... I've got a tonne of homework and studying and stuff to do so..."

"You're blowing us off for homework again?" Kenny sighed with a raised eyebrow next to the tall dark haired boy, "You can't get that much homework, Ky. Take a break for once in your life!"

"Yeah, come on dude. It's just one night; it's not going to hurt."

"I... I can't. We'll hang out on another day though, guys. I promise," I shot them another weak smile, glared at Cartman who was still smirking smugly and then left quickly before they had another chance to interject.

I dashed out of the doors and down to the gate, hoping Craig would already be waiting there and he was. I didn't bother to stop; I just grabbed his hand as I turned the corner and pulled him along as we ran down the road.

"What the fuck are you doing, Broflovski?" he groaned after we started to slow down a couple blocks away, "Why are we running?"

"I don't want the guys to see me coming with you instead of going with them... They'll get really pissed," I stammered, a little out of breath.

He let out a small chuckle, "You didn't tell them you were going to be with me?"

"No... "

"Why not?"he looked at me with a look of concern at my nervous response, his eyebrow cocked.

"Well... You guys don't exactly see eye to eye. They wouldn't be particularly happy if they knew I was spending my Friday evening with you instead of them."

I saw his face smooth into a small smirk as he quietly whispered, "Sweet," to himself before we carried on our journey in silence.

It wasn't for a few seconds of being in quiet that I realized our hands were still joined. I pulled mine away quickly, mumbling 'sorry...' as he just shrugged and pushed his own into his pockets. He seemed to be deep in thought again as our feet tapped in time with each other's whilst we walked towards my house. He wasn't really concentrating much on what I was saying as I tried to make small awkward chit-chat with him, so I figured something was probably wrong.

"What's wrong, dude?" he glanced at me but then looked back at the ground.

"I feel like we've been in this same situation before," he shrugged.

"What situation, you walking to my house?"

"No, I mean the whole thing..." he looked thoughtful, "Like, the first day you came to my house. We ran the first bit, then we slowed down, then it felt a bit awkward, then I asked you what was wrong and you didn't respond. It's weird."

I thought about it and let out a quiet chuckle, "So? What's your point?"

"There isn't one. It was just an observation. I like to observe things. How long is your house from here? I haven't come from this direction before," he changed subject before I could continue questioning him.

"It's just around the corner," I pointed in the direction and he seemed to tense a bit, "Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

"I just don't like going to other people's houses. I barely even go to my own friends' houses and that's only when I have a good reason to. I like staying in my own house."

I rolled my eyes, "Well we already have all the ingredients and stuff at my house, so we have to do it here, we don't have a choice."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," me mumbled, pushing his hands further into his pockets as we approached my front door.

When we entered into the house, it didn't take long for us to realize that Ike was sitting on the couch by the door, staring. It was if he had been waiting for our arrival, even though I hadn't told him that Craig was coming. His arms were crossed, his hand gripping to his cellphone and his eyebrow arched as he watched me usher the dark haired teen further into the room so I could close the door behind him.

"Hello, Kyle," he spoke to me slowly before looking Craig up and down in an analytical way, "Hello. I'm Ike."

"Er, hey dude," the tall noirette nodded at my brother, his face blank.

"Look, Ike, we've got some work to do, so I don't want any of your crap today, alright?"

"What did I do? All I want to do is talk to you. I don't know what you mean by that comment, big brother," he was still watching Craig sternly as he addressed me.

"Yes you do. I mean it, dude. Leave us alone."

"Well you've got to understand my scepticism," although it was purposely not obvious, I was his brother and I could detect the small hint of wittiness in his voice.

I couldn't be bothered to carry on this conversation with Craig still in the room, so I rolled my eyes and went up the stairs, gesturing for the dark haired teen to follow me. I can't argue with my brother, he knows exactly which buttons he needs to press to get me agitated or what he needs to do to get whatever information he wants. He's always helping the guys with their stupid schemes because he's a sneaky little guy, so I find it easier to just avoid getting into those kinds of situations with him. I knew he would start asking questions when Craig got here because he just likes to know everything about everyone, but I didn't particaularly feel up to answering any of them. I had been trying to avoid bringing Craig back to my house for that very reason, but today there really wasn't anything else we could have done.

Craig's parents weren't really the 'bakes you cookies when you get home from school' kind of parents and so they didn't really have much of the ingredients we needed to make our cakes. My own mother has a lot of that stuff in the cupboards because she thinks it's important that Ike and I grow up in a 'nice home environment' and so she bakes random treats for us from time to time, meaning she had a lot the ingredients we needed stored away in our house somewhere. I think it's all really weird, but I don't complain. She easily said that we could use them for our project, but it took me a while to convince her she didn't need to stay and 'supervise' us.

My brother Ike's a very smart kid and so the first time I had come back from Craig's house, he had already started asking me loads of questions about why I had been out with him. As I was already really pissed off at Cartman and his stupid texts, I had kind of exploded on my little brother and we had had a really big argument. The next day things were alright again, just like how brothers are, but I still felt like there was something he wasn't telling me, something causing a bit of unresolved tension between us. He didn't seem at all thrilled at Craig's presence in our home, but at that moment I couldn't have cared any less.

**A/N: Howdy-ho!**

**I feel like this chapter was pretty shit, sorry. I don't really know what to say, I need to go crawl under a rock or something and only come out when I learn how to write better :S**

**But either way I really appreciate your constant views and reviews and follows and favorites they make me so happy seriously (but reviews make me the happiest *hint hint* :'D)**

**Okay, I love you all BYE**

**^.^**

**XXX**


	13. The Tactics

Craig

Being in Kyle's house was so freaking weird. Everything just looked so neat and tidy, so elaborately decorated and in general so different from my own. It was kind of like how I felt whenever I went to Token's, although on a much smaller scale, that is. There were lots of ornaments and decorations all over the house and they were all surrounded by photographs and pictures of all different types on the walls.

When we reached his bedroom, it was again so much different to mine. There was nothing cluttering the floors, the bed was properly spread and all of his belongings were tucked away neatly. I felt him touch my shoulder as I stood in the center of the room awkwardly so I subconsciously jerked away at the tingling sensation that rippled through me. After I realized that it was him, I saw that he was only putting his hand out so that he could take my bag from me. When I handed it to him, he took both of our backpacks and placed them neatly at the side of the room before he walked back and sat down on his bed.

I was still standing so he gestured towards the range of seating he had in his room. There was his desk chair, two beanbag chairs, the floor and next to him on his bed. Without thinking, I instinctively moved and sat down next to him, waiting to see what he'd say next. We sat in silence for a while, neither of us really wanting to be the first to speak.

"So..." I started slowly, "What did your brother mean by all that 'you've got to understand my scepticism' stuff?"

"He..." he looked like he was going to start coming up with an excuse, but then he sighed, "He knows that our groups don't like each other. He's just being a jackass about you coming over here, that's all."

"Oh," I frowned, "how does he know that?"

"Everyone knows, right? I mean it's kind of obvious when you're always beating the shit out of each other..." he frowned too, but then exhaled again, "I guess we'd better start this cake stuff now..."

"Already? We only just got here."

The redhead glanced at me, his eyebrow quirked, "I thought you didn't want to be here in the first place."

"Well we're here now, we might as well do something fun whilst we are."

The truth was, I didn't actually want us to start at that moment and then finish early. I had nothing better to do that evening and I quite liked the idea of spending it with Kyle instead of alone in my own home. No matter how much I tried to convince myself I liked being alone, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend the rest of that day in Kyle's company. Just something about being with that redheaded boy made me feel happier than I usually was. It baffled me because I didn't know why, but I didn't see the point in questioning it when I could just enjoy it. Somewhere in the back of my mind the me from a week ago was screaming at me because it was never a part of my original plan to spend so much time with Kyle and that I should really stop right there and then, but I continued to ignore its pleas and carried on staring at the redhead at my side.

"So come on princess, what do you do for fun around here?"

I smirked as he flicked me on the head, "Knock it off, Craig! And I don't really do anything that _you_ would consider 'fun' here. All I have here are my books," he gestured vaguely over to his overflowing bookshelf, "I go to the other guys' houses to do that kind stuff."

"Urgh, really?" I glanced around the room with a light sigh before something small caught my eye, "What's that?"

I pointed to the object and he followed my stare, "I'm not sure, actually..." he went over and began rummaging through the bottom shelf of the cupboard I had seen that had something poking out of the bottom of it.

I dropped to my knees and crawled over, sitting next to him as he fished it out, "So?"

"It's my old Okama Gamesphere. I haven't played this in years..." he glanced towards me and then the TV in the corner of his room and then back to me, "Do you wanna play?"

"Sure," I nodded before dropping to my knees and helping him untangle all the wires.

They were all intertwined to all the other random shit he had in there, so it took a while for us to do it all. Occasionally his fingers would brush against mine, sending a jolt through my body and causing me to impulsively drop the wires so we'd have to pick it up and start over again. Kyle didn't seem to mind though; he just laughed and carried on although I don't think he knew why I was doing it. _I_ didn't even know why I was doing it.

When we eventually got it all unravelled, I took a seat on one of the beanbag chairs as Kyle quickly connected the console to the TV. It didn't take him long so we were playing the game pretty soon afterwards. He had opted to sit on the other beanbag seat so that we were next to each other as we battled, close enough to gently nudge each other in our attempts to win.

The graphics of the game were terrible since the console was so old, but the actual game play was still pretty good. It was a good old-fashioned one-on-one fighting game. After taking the time to carefully select our characters, we spent ages punching and kicking the shit out of each other. Whilst I took the normal try-and-get-a-combo-move approach, Kyle seemed to be using the press-all-the-buttons-randomly tactic instead.

"That's cheating, dude."

"No it's not, it's a skill. You may not know it, but I know exactly what I'm pressing," he giggled as he continued to mash crazily at the controller in his hands.

"That's such bullshit, you're just clicking randomly. You're such a chick," I laughed as he frowned at me.

"I'm not a girl!" he pushed me forcefully and because I was off my guard I fell onto the floor, "Oh shit, are you okay? I didn't mean to-"

Before he managed to finish his sentence, I had already reached for his skinny ankles and pulled him so that he had dropped onto the floor as well, "Well you look like one to me," I smirked.

"No I don't!" he huffed with a playful smile, attempting to push me off of him, "Let go of me you asshole!"

"Not until you admit that I'm the best fighter the world has ever known," I moved quickly so that my grasps were then on his wrists and I was effectively on top of him, pinning him to the ground beneath me with no choice but to be held there.

"Never," he chuckled, his body squirming and his limbs attempting to flail underneath me as I easily held him down tightly.

"Well then I guess you're not going anywhere for a while, Broflovski."

"Oh yeah?" he shot a quick smirk at me before I felt his leg sweep across the ground and kick me in the knee.

As I impulsively let go of his arms to clutch at my knee, he quickly scrambled up to his feet and pushed my back down so that I was flat out on the ground. I turned my body over to see him staring down at me with a smile on his face. He bent down by my side and held my arms down with his small hands.

"They might not be the most traditional tactics, but they work," he whispered quietly into my ear before letting out a small chuckle, "You're the one that's not going anywhere for a while," he moved quickly so that he was sat on my legs.

He probably thought that that meant I wouldn't be able to move from underneath him, although the redhead was so light that I could have easily shaken him off, but I played along anyway, "Fine. What do I have to do to get you off of me, princess?"

"Well for one, I want you to stop calling me 'princess' you fucking retard!"

"Me calling you a princess doesn't make me a retard, princess. It just makes me annoying."

"Stop it, dude!" he crossed his arms across his chest and put on a playful pout, "I'm not a princess!" Oh, the fucking irony.

"Is that all you want? I stared at him expectantly as he appeared to ponder the thought.

"No... I want... I want you to make friends with Stan and Kenny."

I sighed loudly, "Are you still on that?" he nodded his head at me, "I don't see why it's that big of a deal."

"It just is," he turned his body so that he was straddling my legs and staring at me with a serious look on his face as I lifted my torso so that I was sitting straight up, our faces in pretty close proximity to each others.

"It's not, Kyle. Why do you find it so hard to accept that it's just you I want to be friends with, not them?" as the words escaped my lips, his eyes widened and he appeared shocked by what I had said; I was pretty confused too, did I just admit I wanted to be his friend?

As we sat in silence, I realized that I was totally off task. Not with the home ec project, I didn't really give two flying fucks about that. I was off task with Kyle. There had been a reason I had first proposed the truce with the him, and it had absolutely nothing to do with having the small redhead sitting on my lap in the middle of his room. I wasn't even meant to talk to him much, I was just going to make sure he was on our side and let the rest work itself out. But _no_, I had to go and agree to do the stupid home economics project with him and basically spend most of my time in his presence. Well, not all of the time, or even most of it, was to do with the assignment, but the situation with me ending up in his house was, so it's what I chose to blame it on.

As I started focusing on all the thoughts rushing around in my head, I didn't notice that Kyle was staring straight into my eyes, right in front of me. I assume he was doing it for a while, because it was only a small cough from him that made me wake out of my own trance and see him there, even though he still wasn't concentrating.

"K-Kyle?" I squeaked out quietly, as he rapidly blinked back, obviously awakening from his own daydream.

He shook his head for a moment before clutching tightly on to the collar of my shirt, "I find it hard to accept because I don't see why you'd want to be friends with someone who could so easily beat your ass," he sniggered before gently pushing my body so that my back was on the floor again, his grasp still present.

I let out a short chuckle, "It's because I like being friends with princesses."

"I said stop calling me that!"

"I will if you stop bringing up all that 'make friends' crap."

His eyebrow quirked for a moment, before his grip on my shirt became slightly looser and he scowled down at me, "Fine."

"Fine," as I stared up at him, I realized just how close we actually were at that moment.

He was leaning close down over me, his legs still straddling mine. Our faces weren't that far apart and I could feel the warmth of his breath tickle my cheeks as he spoke. His grip around my neck was still present as he stared intently into my eyes and suddenly I felt... I felt something. Something tight. Something... down there.

I quickly shoved Kyle onto the floor as gently as I could before scrambling to my feet and turning my body away from him, "I need to, er... can I use your bathroom?"

* * *

**A/N: Okay, guys, yeah I know it's a short chapter... I apologize. My brain's been kinda frazzled lately and I've had a lot to do, so please don't hate me.**

**Please leave a review though, that would be helpful, they really do help me to find the time and effort to write these as decently and as soon as possible. :)**

**[Plus guys, I'm_ so_ happy because this story seems to be way more popular than my other one and I'm only 15 reviews away from 100 and if it's not too much to ask, I'd really like to reach that before the next chapter (although I'll still upload it even if I don't, don't worry :'D)! It would make me feel awesome and there are way more than 15 people reading each chapter and so if you could leave a review, even if it's short, I would really appreciate it!] **

**But the next chapter will hopefully be better, longer and... wetter. **

**I'll let you puzzle that one out on your own.**

**Next update should be up as soon as possible, so until then; **

**CIAO.**

**^.^ **

**XXX**


	14. The Cake

Craig

I don't know what the fuck that was all about. It was totally random; it was nothing. Luckily it wasn't that bad, all I had to do was think about some weird gross shit to cool me back down, because I definitely couldn't let Kyle see me like that. These things happen all the time with no reasoning behind them, just like that was. Totally. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Kyle was on top of me. Obviously.

When I returned to the room, the redhead was back to lounging in one of the beanbag chairs, his legs sprawled outwards as he sat comfortably, obviously not finding my sudden exit something to concern himself with. He was also playing the video game again, but on the single player mode. He barely glanced at me as I walked in the room, but he quickly tapped the seat next to him as his vision returned to the wide screen in front of him, his brows furrowed in concentration and his body occasionally twitching from side to side as he avoided the hits of his virtual attacker. I obediently took my place and watched him silently, relaxing into a position where I could lie comfortably but still see the television.

"This doesn't look like homework," I suddenly heard the voice of Kyle's brother as he poked his head around the door, his eyebrow cocked and his eyes scanning the area before his glance fell onto where the redhead and I were positioned.

"We're doing it in a bit," Kyle shrugged his shoulders, his head impulsively bending the left as he dodged a punch.

"You always do your homework as soon as you get home, though," his eyes shifted so that he was glaring in my direction, "Always."

"Well maybe I want to change that."

"Or maybe _someone else_ wants you to change that," he was still glaring at me, so I held his gaze awkwardly.

He was extremely small next to me, even when I was slouched down, but he was still extremely intimidating as he glowered in my direction. His eyes were darting around me, as if he scanning me in search of something. He was like some sort of robot in his movements; even when he moved from being by the door and made his way over to us, his actions were slow and controlled. It kind of reminded me of how I was often like before actually, however I hadn't seemed to act in that way for a while, at least not whilst I'd been around the redhead who had now paused his game and had swivelled his body so that he was facing his little brother.

"Did you want something, Ike?" Kyle sighed as Ike's gaze transferred its way back to his brother.

"Well I need to talk to you. But," he glanced in my direction before looking back, "He can't be in here."

"Why not? What's it about?" he frowned; it seemed like he probably had an idea, but was still curious to know the answer anyway.

"What part of it can't be discussed in front of him do you not understand?"

"Fine, we'll talk later, Ike," he sighed before turning back away from him.

"But I need to talk to you _now_. It's important."

"It can't be so important that it can't wait a couple of hours, can it?" he rolled his eyes, unpausing the gameplay.

"Fine, I guess you don't want to know. But you'll wish that you knew what I had to tell you. You really will," he replied harshly, turning on his heel and marching quickly out of the redhead's bedroom.

After the young boy left, his brother let out a quiet sigh of relief, "God, I really don't get my brother sometimes... But whatever. Do you want to start making the cake now?"

Something inside of me wanted to say no so that we could spending longer up in his room playing the game together, but instead I nodded in agreement and followed him as he made his way down the stairs. As we entered the kitchen, we were greeted by the sight of various types of kitchen equipment spread over the counters and the round table in the middle of the room, the smell of the bowls filled with ingredients and the warmth of the preheated oven. Kyle stopped to take his jacket off as I approached the objects and noticed a small piece of paper stuck to the refrigerator.

"Dear Bubbe," I started reading it aloud, "Make sure you and your little friend are extremely careful whilst you're cooking today. I have laid everything out so you don't need to do anything but mix it all together, so hopefully it should turn out well," I let out a small laugh as I saw the confused look on Kyle's face as he turned to me before continuing, "Make sure your brother stays away from the oven as well as you, I don't want my babies getting hurt-"

His face crumpled in annoyance as he tried to grab the paper away from me, but I held it high above my head, "Give it to me!"

I playfully 'shh'ed him as I carried on reading, "Wash up the dishes whilst the cake is still in the oven, so that you can save a bit of time. Remember, this is a big responsibility letting you do this on your own, so make sure you don't do anything silly. P.S. Also make sure you wear the aprons, I won't be washing cake mixture out of your clothes if you get it all over yourself."

As I finished reading the note, I glanced down at the boy in front of me who was blushing furiously. He grabbed the paper out of my lowered hand, scanned the words and then crumpled it before throwing it into the trash whilst I took my own jacket off and hung it up on the rack. I couldn't help but chuckle at the look of irritation that had crept onto his face and that just made him frown further.

"It's not funny..." he muttered, throwing an apron at me violently.

"It kind of is, dude," I slipped the garment over my head, craning my neck behind me to attempt to tie the knot at the back.

Even though my arms are long, they aren't particularly coordinated when it hasn't got anything to do with my art, so I was finding it pretty difficult, "Having some trouble there?" Kyle smiled smugly at me as he easily reached around his body and did his own.

"No," I responded stubbornly, flipping him off.

"Come here, stupid," he pulled me closer to him and then turned me around quickly so he was facing my back.

He started fiddling with the strings, his thin fingers delicately brushing against my back as he attempted to tie them together. Each time he did so, my body would jerk and my back would arch away from him and I would hear him sigh behind me.

After a few times of trying, he groaned with a small chuckle, "Stop moving, Craig! Why are you making something so easy so difficult?"

"Well stop tickling my back then!" I replied defensively.

"I barely touched you, dude!" he quickly swooped forward and tied the knot whilst it was too occupied with responding to notice, "There. Gosh, I feel like that alone was a whole days worth of work."

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes playfully before going over to the bowls of ingredients, "Okay, so where do we start?"

We spent hours in that freaking kitchen. When we first started making the mixture, it was going perfectly well. We put all the right things in at the right times and it looked exactly how it was meant to look. What we hadn't realized however, is just how long it took to bake. Not only did it take fucking ages to cook in the first place, we had lost concentration the first time around and so we ended up burning it. And I don't just mean around the edges, I mean we fully scorched it to a crisp. Nearly as bad as when Kevin had attempted to make the toast. Nearly. At least Kyle's smoke alarms didn't go off. The redhead wasn't that annoyed though, except for the fact that we had to go through the whole process again, but that time it was even longer because we had to do all the measurements of the ingredients ourselves. By the time we had the cake in the oven the second time, we were exhausted.

I heard Kyle exhale loudly as he flopped down in one of the chairs around his table. He glanced up at me with tired eyes as I took the seat next to him and he smiled weakly. It was pretty late by that time, so we took a while just relaxing in silence. As I lay with arms crossed on top of the table, my head resting heavily on top of them, I heard a quiet gurgle coming from my stomach. As I had been spending all of my time during lunch visiting Kyle under his tree, I had stopped eating as much as usual because I didn't have access to the mecha-feast that was usually provided by Token. Plus, the smell of the cake in the oven was really tempting.

Kyle let out a light-hearted laugh, "Hungry?"

I nodded, "Hell, yeah."

"Hmm..." he sounded thoughtful for a moment as I closed my eyes and attempted to drift back into my daydreams before I felt something hard hit my face.

My eyes quickly opened to see Kyle still laughing cheerfully in front of me. As I sat up properly I realized he had retrieved the tin with the burnt cake and had taken a handful and thrown it to me to eat. He was staring at me expectantly, obviously waiting to see how I'd react.

I arched my eyebrow at him, but stretched my hand out to pick up the bulk of the cake he had thrown in my direction. I quickly placed it in my mouth, chewing on it slowly. Apart from the obvious taste of it being extremely burnt, it actually wasn't that bad once you ignored that. I could still taste the flavour it was meant to be, and if you scrapped off the top of it, the very middle of it was still pretty edible.

"So? How is it?" he was still staring at me wide eyed as he awaited my feedback.

"Why don't you try it yourself," I reached across the table and grabbed at a handful of the cake and flicked it in his face.

A small grin graced his lips as he giggled and ate a piece, "Well it's definitely burnt."

"No shit, Sherlock," I rolled my eyes at him as he continued to chew on it.

"Whatever," he sniggered, throwing more at me.

We continued throwing the food back and forth at each other, laughing happily. We were making a lot of mess, but he didn't seem to care at all; he just kept grinning as we ran around the circular table, dodging flying pieces of burnt cake. After quite a while of doing that, we were starting to have to reuse already flung cake pieces, but at one point I heard a faint noise. It was kind of like a quiet click of some kind and caused me to stop. I don't know what exactly it was and I don't know why it made me stop in my tracks, but for whatever reason, it did. I glanced around the kitchen with a frown before noticing what it was actually like now, looking at the crumbs we'd left around us and the dirty equipment scattered around the work surfaces. Before I could even mention anything, though, I felt another brick-like piece slap against my face followed by a roar of laughter from the redhead.

"Haha, you should see the look on your face, dude. It's hilarious!"

"I think this is why your mom doesn't let you in the kitchen," I sniggered as I dodged another.

"Fine, we can clean it up, kill joy," he rolled his eyes at me before slinking over to the sink and filling it up with warm water.

I went around the kitchen, collecting all the dishes and placing them next to where Kyle was. I think I was still a bit scared that Mrs. Broflovski would just burst in from nowhere and chew our heads off for the place being in such a mess, so I was eager to get it done. As I stood next to the redhead and dried off each off the items he handed to me as he washed them, I could hear him humming quietly to himself. It was pretty amusing because he seemed completely out of it; I tried calling him a couple times and he didn't respond. After about the fifth time of calling his name, I reached into the water and flicked some up at him which seemed to wake him up a bit.

"Hey! What was that for?" he frowned, but he let it smooth into another small smile soon enough afterwards.

"I was calling you and you weren't responding," I replied, like it was the easiest thing in the world to understand.

"So you choose to flick water in my face?"

"Yep. Pretty much," I smirked as he rolled his eyes at me.

I didn't even realize about a minute later when he scooped quite a lot of water up and flicked it at my face with a shit-eating grin on his face. He quickly moved away from me, obviously smart enough to know I was going to retaliate. I dunked my hand into the water and attempted to splash him as he laughed and ran in the opposite direction.

It was like the cake all over again. We spent a while chasing each other around, making quick pit-stops at the sink every few moments to restock on our liquid ammo in whatever we could carry it with. I opted for the mixing bowl whilst Kyle chose to use a giant jug. At one point, I don't know how, but using some kind of stealth mode I guess, Kyle snuck up behind me and managed to soak my entire head with water. Luckily, he had pulled my hat off beforehand, so at least my chullo was still dry, but my hair was drenched. I don't even know how he managed to reach that high, to be honest. But he found the whole thing hilarious as I let out a small moan of annoyance. So after that, I thought it would be fitting if I did the same gesture to him. The only difference was that when I tried to sneak up to him he realized I was there and whipped around quickly meaning that the massive amount of water I was holding in the large bowl ended up being spilt all down his torso instead. After his initial squeal, he grabbed the bowl out of my hands and placed it on the table before attempting to wrestle me to the ground.

As we rolled around, I could feel the crumbs that were already on the floor getting stuck to our wet bodies. Kyle's shirt stuck to his thin frame tightly as he tried to grab my wrists in an effort to pin me down. I slithered out of his grip quickly and tried to stand up, but it was pretty hard when you had both water and cake to slip on so I ended up trying to run away from him on my knees. We were both laughing loudly as we continued to try and assert our dominance in the battle.

This was definitely better than staying at home on my own.

I took a diving tackle approach as I launched myself at Kyle, who was also crawling on his knees, and caused him to fall flat on the ground. I tried to keep him held beneath me, but because he was so slippery he easily got out of my hold as I cursed under my breath.

He crawled away again quickly, "Haha! Screw you," I stopped to take a moment to breathe; my heart was racing, but I was confused when I heard the room go silent.

"Kyle? Where did you-" before I could finish, I felt myself be attacked from behind by bony little fingers, tickling my ribs as I fell to the ground in submission.

He continued to giggle as his small hands prodded at my body; he had somehow ended up so that he was sitting on top of me again. I was going to give up, but I shook my head wildly, soaking him with even more water from my hair. All I had to do was hold onto his hips and push him off gently and I would swing out from underneath him to get away, and as I did that he chuckled loudly as I tickled him back. That laugh. It rung out loudly through my ears as he beamed up at me. I got him so that he was the one on his back again afterwards, me pinning him down by holding his skinny arms to the floor. His legs tried to kick away from me, but I made sure I stayed out of his range as he squirmed around. His eyes were glowing with happiness as he blinked in my direction. Those eyes. The bright green orbs that lit up whenever he was happy. I took the time to admire the rest of his face as I hung over him; those pink cheeks that burnt red when he was embarrassed or angry, his thin lips that would tug into a smile whenever I showed the slight bit of positivity and would frown when I did the opposite, the cute way his tongue would stick out and his brow will furrow when he concentrates.

Kyle continued to laugh with his head thrown back and his eyes closed tightly whilst he struggled beneath me and I started to mentally acknowledge all the moments we'd shared together over the last week. The initial time I had approached him and I'd felt uncharacteristically nervous. The exhilarating way it felt the first time he touched me. The way it _still_ felt when he touched me. How cute he looked when he was dressed up in the princess accessories. How close we had been that night my sister attempted to watch TV with him but I talked to him for the entire time instead. How we had stood together at his doorstep, waiting for something to happen. Something. But what was that something?

Before I even realized what I was doing, I had bent down so close to Kyle's face that I could once again feel his warmth breath on my face. His eyes were still closed as he attempted to wriggle, although there was no point; he wasn't moving any further away from me. I felt my eyes subconsciously flutter shut as my head continued to move down slowly. My nose brushed gently against his as I-

Click.

It was that same distant sound I had heard before. Maybe I was just going crazy, or maybe it was my conscience opting for a new approach to stop me from doing stupid shit; it was obviously working.

As I came to the realization of what I had been doing, I jerked my head away quickly. It seemed like time had stopped for a moment; I was still staring down at the redhead, his grin wide as he was held beneath my own body. My breathing was rapid and I could hear my heart pounding in my chest. I could feel my body heating up as the sound of his laughter rang out throughout the room. Thoughts whirled around my head hastily, with one main point the most predominant:

I was falling for Kyle Broflovski.

I didn't know what to do. I could take my chances and swoop down and see how he'd react, or I could run and leave right there and then, refusing to give an explanation. All I knew was that whatever I did, I was going to have to come up with something fast. So I decided to do what I do best.

I punched him.

"Ow, _FUCK_, Craig!"

* * *

**A/N: Jesus-tap-dancing-Christ, Craig~ It took you long enough to work it out!**

**That's because I didn't want them to just work together for like one day and be like 'Omigosh, I've loved you all along,' 'Yeah, me too!' The End.**

**A week's still pretty short though. But Craig's been watching Kyle from a distance for a while though, so... ya'know.**

**Haha haha, I had fun writing that chapter. It was kind of hard though because I can obviously see the scene playing out in my own mind, but I was finding it pretty hard to write it in enough detail for you to be able to visualize it too, it took me quite a while... I hope I did alright.**

**They like to fight a lot, it seems. Luckily, Craig seems to like it.**

**Aww, I have decided that my official secondary ship is Cryle. As I write this, it just makes so much sense in my own mind, even though it's probably not coming across in the actual story... Sorry :S**

**And Tweek's birthday is coming soon; let's not forget about that awesomeness!**

**Oh well, I love you guys for reading this and I really, really, **_**really**_** want to know what you think of it so far, because I think it's going to be pretty hard for me to write the next few chapters so any reviews you want to give would be great!**

**And whilst I'm on the subject, thank you _sooo _much for all the ones so far!**

**Love you all so much!**

**^.^ **

**XXX**


	15. The Foreign Song

Kyle

As we walked silently towards Harbucks, our feet quietly tapping on the concrete of the pavement, I let my mind drift as Craig appeared to be doing the same. His expression was blank as he stared at his feet in front of him, his hands firmly gripping onto a large plastic bag that's contents were rattling loudly. He looked paler than normal and his eyes had dark circles underneath them, as if he hadn't gotten much sleep that night. I considered asking him what was wrong with him, but I knew he wouldn't provide an answer and so I left him to his own thoughts.

He had been acting quite weird the night before as well, actually. Whilst we were making our cake and had had our epic cake-and-water fight, he had been completely fine and seemed to be genuinely happy. I'd only ever seen him truly smile on very rare occasion in my life before that week, and usually my friends would make damn sure that they put a stop to that. It had been nice spending time with him where he appeared to actually smile quite a lot, and it especially made me feel good when I felt like it was me that was making him do that; I like making people happy. But I don't know what happened, but after he punched me, he seemed really tense and awkward and like he really wanted to go home even though he had been so enthusiastic about making the cake to start with.

"Ow, _FUCK_, Craig! What the hell was that for?" I had moaned loudly, clutching at my face in agony.

"I, er... I just, um, I didn't mean... shit, er..." as he tried to formulate a comprehensible response whilst quickly jumping up from on top of me and practically sprinting to the other side of the room looking petrified; I don't know why, he probably thought I was going to retaliate or something, "Sorry..." he eventually mumbled.

I sighed loudly, "I think we'd better get back to the cake."

He nodded quickly and hurriedly retrieved it out of the oven, placing it on a cooling rack because of the heat. We wordlessly set to clearing the kitchen of all the mess we'd made, Craig still looking really on edge. I still didn't really know why, his punch hadn't hurt that much and I hadn't made an attempt to hit back so I didn't understand why he seemed so worried, but I was too busy cleaning to try to work it out. After we had finished it all, we decided to leave the cake at my house for then to bring it to meet with his gang the next day and he left almost immediately after, not really giving me the opportunity to ask him what was bothering him.

He had come knocking on my door on the Saturday morning, looking tired and a bit irritable, so I had decided against bringing it up. We had gotten the cake and I carried it in a small container as we made the journey to the coffee shop to meet up with his other three friends. It occurred to me that that might be the reason he was a little tense; I had been spending a lot of time with him, but I had been yet to actually interact with the rest of his gang and it was most likely going to be a bit of an awkward encounter. But that didn't explain the sudden need to rush home the night before.

I decided I'd say something, "Craig?"

He didn't respond, fully absorbed by his own thoughts. I tried calling him again, but he still didn't reply. I wasn't sure if he was purposely ignoring me, or it was legitimate that he hadn't heard me, so I gently nudged his arm. I felt his body tense at the contact and his face tint slightly as he swiftly moved further away from me before looking up to meet my gaze.

"Why did you just nudge me?" his voice was quiet as his eyes searched mine quizzically.

"I was calling you but you weren't responding," he gave a small nod as he stayed silent, "I wanted to know…Have I done something wrong? Like to annoy you or upset you or something?"

"W-what?" his eyes looked slightly panicked as they fell back on the ground in front of him, "No. Why would you say that?"

"Well, you were in a hurry to leave yesterday and you don't really seem like you want to be around me now…" once again, he was silent, "So what I guess what I'm asking is… why?"

After a couple moments of being quiet, he spoke, "Broflovski, after today, you won't have to talk to me anymore. You won't have to try your hardest to try and be my friend. Our project is basically finished; we won't even have to have interact at all. In fact, you can start today if you want. Let's just get our feedback or whatever and use that as our final findings and then we can go our separate ways," I was about to interrupt and ask him what the hell he was talking about, but he carried on, his voice cold as he uttered the words, "The way things are meant to be."

As the words passed his lips, I stopped in my tracks. I watched him continue to walk onwards, but I couldn't get my legs to move to catch up with him. It wasn't just what he had said that had gotten to me, it was the way he said it. It was so sinister, as if to say that if I didn't stop talking to him something really bad was going to happen. I didn't have a clue what the something would be, but I didn't think asking him was an option. He seemed totally against having anything to do with me now, and I still didn't understand what it was that I had done to make him feel that way.

I didn't move until I saw him turn the corner at the end of the road and was then out of sight. I hurried after him, but as I reached the turning he had made, he still wasn't visible. I was confused because it appeared to be a straight road and he had definitely turned there and so I had no idea where he was. I decided that he must have run off ahead and so I quickly made my own way to Harbucks, making sure I didn't drop the cake in the process.

As I approached the store, I saw a tall figure resting against the wall outside. I increased my pace as I ran towards him, but I was still unsure of what exactly I wanted to say to him, especially as I was quite out of breath from running most of the way there.

"Craig?" his head glanced upwards at the sound of his name, "Where the hell did you go?"

His eyebrows lifted as I stood in front of him, but he didn't move, "Shortcut."

"And you couldn't tell me where that was?" I moaned, still regaining my breath; it had been a pretty long distance to run.

"I thought you weren't coming," he shrugged his shoulders and took his iPod out of his pocket, placing one earphone in his ear and then staring at me expectantly, like he was waiting for me to say something.

"Well… I did," he was nodding his head, though I wasn't sure if that was because of the music or because of what I said, but I carried on anyway, "But are you going to tell me what that was all about or not?" I demanded as sternly as possible, but he just smirked at me.

"Come here. Listen to this," he reached for the hanging earphone and placed it into my ear.

The music was loud and angry and I couldn't really make out much of whatever the guy 'singing' was screaming into my ear. I tried to decipher it, but it didn't even sound like it was in English. It wasn't until about half way through the song that I realized that it actually wasn't.

As the song finished, he pulled it back out of my ear and placed the device back in his pocket as I stared at him quizzically before sighing, "What the fuck, Craig?"

He didn't bother to respond, as I expected, and pushed open the door to the shop causing the small bell to ring. It was empty apart from Token sitting at a booth on his own, reading a newspaper with his back facing away from the door. I could hear him quietly sighing to himself as he turned the pages as Craig and I entered the room.

"Hey, Craig," the boy hadn't even looked up from his paper to greet his friend, but somehow he already knew who it was.

"Hey," he flopped down so that he was sitting across from Token whilst I stood awkwardly at the doorway.

I didn't know what I was meant to do; I could sit next to Craig, but I was even more confused now about what was going through his head and I wasn't sure whether he would want me anywhere near him. I could have sat next to Token instead, but I wasn't sure how he would react to me being there in the first place so I didn't want to make it even more awkward by placing myself right next to him. Instead I just sat at a separate booth by the door by myself whilst we waited for the rest of Craig's gang to arrive. I watched as the two boys conversed quietly, not really being able to make out what they were saying due to their hushed tones.

"Hey, bitches!" the door swung open and in came Clyde, his arms laden with giant bags.

"Hi, Clyde," Craig and Token replied less enthusiastically, still not turning to face him as they carried on their conversation; I understood how Token could differentiate who was who by their greetings, they're two completely different people with two completely different attitudes towards the appropriate way to enter through a door.

I saw the brunette struggle to get a few of the bags through the door, so I got up to assist him, "Do you need some help?"

"Yeah thanks- Wait... Kyle? What are _you_ doing here?" he looked befuddled as he let the bags drop and stared from me to Craig to Token and back.

I also noticed Token glance round in confusion, as well as the fact that Craig appeared to be walking out of the room to disappear into the back before I heard a low voice speak, "How long have you even been in here? What the fuck?" the black boy got up and walked over to where both I and Clyde were standing and stared at me; I could feel both of the boys boring holes into me with their focused eyes as they towered above me, "You better get out of here, dude, or you'll regret it," Token growled angrily.

"I-I…" I was at a loss for words; did they not know I was coming?

"Yeah, you know that you and your friends aren't welcome here. This is our territory," Clyde crossed his arms against his chest as he narrowed his eyes at me.

I took a few steps back and nearly stumbled over as I saw them continue to follow me, my mind still highly confused, "But- But-"

"'But' what, Broflovski?

"But I-" I could feel my face heating up as I felt more and more intimidated by the two very tall and very muscular boys standing in front of me, "I mean I just-"

"Leave him alone, guys. I invited him," Craig re-entered the room, nonchalantly sipping at a hot cup of cocoa before sliding back into his previous booth.

Token and Clyde stared at him in disgust, as if he had just admitted to brutaly murdering someone. They gave me one last angry glare before both taking the seats on the opposite side of the boy to interrogate him. I couldn't help but sigh loudly, I felt like I had just avoiding getting beaten the shit out of.

"Why _the hell_ did you invite _him_?" Token demanded.

"'cause we have cake," he gestured for me to come to him with his index finger after pointing to the container we had it in.

"Cake?" Clyde's voice suddenly sounded more positive and his eyes lit up as I nervously approached the booth, handing it to Craig.

"Yes, Clyde. Cake."

"Awesome! Can I have some?" the brunette made a grab at the box, but the noirette holding it slammed it on his fingers and the black boy punched Clyde in the arm, "Ow! What was that for Token?"

"Don't get distracted by the cake!" he turned back to Craig, "So what if you have cake? That still doesn't explain why Kyle's here, or why you're even talking to him in the first place."

"Can I ask a question?" I squeaked quietly, looking towards the boy in the chullo, wanting to know what exactly I was meant to do with myself at that moment in time.

"No," he answered simply, but he grabbed a hold of my jacket and pulled me down so that I was sitting next to him, although he still kept the distance wide whilst we sat, "Token, Clyde- me and Broflovski made a truce. For some reason," he glanced at me with a raised eyebrow, "We ended up working together on a project. Because of that project we made cake. We brought the cake so that we could get 'feedback' on it, as well as give it to Tweek," I didn't know what he meant by that; since when were we giving it to Tweek? "So that means, Clyde, you can't eat it until he gets here. Any more questions?"

The chubby brunette looked dejected as he slumped backwards in his seat, staring intensely at the box that Craig was drumming on rhythmically, whilst Token just looked confused, "Wait… a truce? With _them_?"

"No. Just Broflovski," I felt my heart sink in my chest at the firmness in his voice.

"But why?"

"All will be explained," he took another long sip of his drink as we all just stared at him expectantly, "Later."

We all let out a quiet groan. I didn't have a clue what was going on anymore, and it was apparent that neither did Token or Clyde. Not that Clyde seemed to be paying much attention on anything but the cake anyway, though.

"So what's in the bags?" Craig asked monotonously changing the subject, still sipping at his cocoa.

"Party shit!" Clyde replied excitedly, his gaze finally breaking from the box as he stared at his two friends happily, "I got it all last night, so all we need to do is keep Tweek distracted a bit at some point so we can sneak off and decorate the arcade and stuff…" he glanced at me and back to Craig hesitantly, "Is he meant to be coming?"

"Yep."

"But what if he told-"

"He didn't. He didn't know."

I didn't have a clue what they were talking about. I looked to the noirette next to me, but he failed to give me any indications as to what they meant. I had been under the impression that we were just going to give them cake, ask them what they thought and then leave. He'd never mentioned anything about going to the arcade or a party or whatever.

"Is there anything else you're not telling us?" Token uttered, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his seat.

"Yes," he said matter-of-factly, taking a sip.

"Well?"

"I didn't say I was going to tell you," Craig gazed up from his cup before placing it back down on the table and changing the topic of the conversation again, "What time is Tweek getting here?"

Token's eyebrow quirked, but he sighed and looked down at his watch, "His shift is meant to start in about ten minutes, so not long."

"Okay," the table went silent again as Craig took a few more sips of his hot cocoa, Token read his newspaper and Clyde stared intently at the box of cake.

"So…" I started hesitantly; I was still confused and wanted answers, so I decided to start with one of the simpler questions that was whirling around my mind, "How did you get in here if Tweek hasn't gotten here yet?"

"His dad let me in. He's in the back," Token replied, his eyes not moving from his paper.

"But what exactly are we waiting for? What's all this party stuff for?"

"It's Tweeks birthday," Clyde piped up, his face beaming, "And we're throwing him an super awesome mega party at the arcade later!"

"Oh… I didn't know it was his birthday..."

"You weren't meant to; that was the point," the black boy snorted.

I felt the tension beginning to build back up again so I decided to stay silent even though I still had a lot more questions. I'd just have to ask Craig at a later point.

"Wait, is that him?" Clyde shouted out suddenly as he sat up in the booth staring out of the window.

Slowly walking, a small. frizzy haired blond boy was making his way towards the door of the shop. He appeared to be quietly muttering to himself and was trembling slightly. Yep, that was Tweek.

As he pushed the door open, I felt myself be pulled towards the noirette next to me and something be slammed hard against my forehead.

"SURPRISE!"

* * *

**A/N: A Kyle chapter! Yay!**

**I felt like I needed one. It's been pretty Craig centric lately; he's losing his mysterious edge. Hehe.**

**So everyone who had told me lately in review form or otherwise that they are starting to like Craig, well, here is him being an asshole. I give you permission to going back to hating him, haha.**

**I feel like there was a lot of dialogue in this chapter than usual, I don't know how you all feel about that, so sorry if that was a bit annoying. I think it's because I find writing Kyle hard for some reason?**

**But seriously you guys, I love the reviews I've gotten so far. Even the short ones, but when you leave me ones with detail it just makes me feel so happy that you like this story enough to take the time to do it and I love reading what you have to think and ahh I just want to give you all hugs and tell you how much it means to me so THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH x**

**The next chapters might be a bit hard for me to write. Oh crap.**

**Wish me luck, guys.**

**LOVE YOU xxx**

**^.^**


	16. The Presents

Kyle

"SURPRISE!"

"Gah! W-what the hell are you guys doing here?" Tweek stammered as Clyde, Token and Craig jumped up to greet him, each with their own various enthusiasm levels.

"Happy birthday, dude!" Clyde ran forward and squeezed him tightly, lifting the boy's feet off of the ground as Tweek squealed in fear.

"You didn't think we'd actually leave you on your birthday, did you?" Token laughed whilst patting the spazing blonde on the back.

"B-but I told you n-not to! Why didn't you stop them Crai-" he turned to face the noirette who had a tight grip on my arm as I tried to refocus myself from the massive smack on the head he had given me, but he looked both confused and scared as he saw us.

"Happy birthday," Craig stated, forcefully pushing me in the direction of the blonde so that I ended up stumbling into the boy's now extremely shaky grasp, "There's your present. He has a bow on his head, see?"

And with that Craig picked up his mug, drank the last couple sips and left the room again. The room fell silent with everybody giving each other bewildered glances as we waited for the boy to come back. I felt my forehead and found out that when I thought that he had slapped me, he had actually just pressed a sticky ribbon on my head, I guess to make me look more like a 'present'. He had a lot of explaining to do.

"K-Kyle?" Tweek eventually squeaked, still latching onto me tightly, even though I had now regained my balance, "What's going o-on?"

I sighed and gave him the most encouraging smile I could, "I have no idea, but... happy birthday."

He attempted to smile back, but he still looked anxious. I let him stay holding onto me in the centre of the room as Token and Clyde went back to sitting in the booth, trying to comprehend what they had just witnessed.

"Craig! Get your sorry butt back in here!" Clyde resorted to screaming out.

We waited impatiently, but eventually Craig came strolling back into the room, with another mug in his hands. He was holding it gingerly, as if it was boiling hot, so he quickly made his way to put it down onto the table.

"There," he poked Tweek in the arm and pointed to the beverage, "Coffee."

The blonde nodded at him thankfully and moved his way over to the table, dragging me with him. We all watched as he sipped at it swiftly, obviously oblivious or just immune to the scorching heat of it as he shakily held onto the mug.

"So, explain... this," Token gestured to me as he addressed the other noirette.

"Well," he glanced at us all in turn and then looked back to Token, "When I asked Tweek what he wanted for his birthday, he said he didn't know. I told him that if he didn't tell me what he wanted I wasn't going to get him anything and he said all he wanted was for us to stop fighting with Broflovski's asshole friends," he glanced at me as if waiting for me to comment, but I wanted to hear what he had to say, so I let it slide, "and I told him that that wasn't a possibility, so this is the closest I could get. Now when we inevitably get into arguments he can go off with Kyle without feeling like you have to fucking hide it from us like he always does," he rolled his eyes and flopped back down on the seat across from us and I felt the blonde's grip tighten.

"You know that I talk to Kyle?" he whispered, only just loud enough for the other boy to hear.

"Of course I know," he stared at us blankly, obviously not too bothered about the constant questioning, "You're not very good at keeping things hidden."

"Oh..." he sighed, his body relaxing against my shoulder as he stared at the table in front of us, but then he looked up again with a small smile on his face, "So... I can be Kyle's friend now?"

"Yes, Tweek."

"So are you all friends with Kyle now?" the blonde looked expectantly at his own friends who all stared back uneasily.

"I, er..." Clyde fidgeted in his spot, before shrugging his shoulders and smiling, "I still think this is a bit weird... but if that's what you wanted, I guess we could be friends..."

Token didn't verbally respond, but he gave a small nod of agreement. He still didn't look all too convinced by what had happened though, but I didn't blame him. I was still completely confused about it all myself and even though Craig had 'explained' himself, it still made absolutely no sense in my mind. So I was... Tweek's present? I wasn't sure whether or not I was okay with that. I mean, it was all crazy as fuck, but the premise of the gesture meant that already Tweek was so much calmer and thinking about it, it must have taken a lot for Craig to have approached me asking for that truce, especially as it seemed that his other friends didn't even know about it.

But... if he had already decided he wasn't going to befriend my other friends and this had been his plan all along... I was in debt to Cartman.

"Look, you have to work and we've got other stuff to do. We're gonna go and you can stay here with Broflovski until we come back," Craig suddenly jumped up from his seat, gesturing for Clyde and Token to follow him as he grabbed Clyde's bags full of stuff and made his way to the door, leaving his own bag behind, "Later."

"But-" I started, but groaned loudly as the door slammed shut behind them and turned to glance at the blonde who was still resting on my arm, "So I guess I'm staying here this morning..."

"Y-you don't have to if you don't want to..." he looked at me sadly, his wide blue eyes staring into my own.

"Of course I want to; I'm not going to leave you on your birthday!" I replied with a warm smile, "It sucks you have to work though, but I guess we can find some way of making it fun. I'll help you, if you like."

We hopped up out of the booth and Tweek started showing me around the store; he showed me how to work the coffee machines, how to blend the other drinks, how to work the cash register, he showed me everything. He seemed pretty excited too, especially when people started entering the shop and I used my newfound knowledge to help serve people so that he could relax and just enjoy his day instead of worrying about doing all of the work by himself; his father didn't make an appearance for ages, and then when he did he said he had to leave. It's no wonder Tweek's always so apprehensive about things, his parents, or his father at least, didn't seem to give a shit about him. I mean, they made him work on his birthday, how cruel is that?

I spent the entire morning and most of the afternoon helping Tweek at Harbucks. It was actually pretty fun to be honest. We turned up the radio and danced around whilst the shop was empty and it was exciting having to deal with the lunch time rush of people and having to get all of their orders right and on time whilst keeping a smile on my face. By the time it was over, I was exhausted, but I didn't let Tweek know that. He didn't seem affected by it at all, but I guess he was used to it. That or he was too pumped full of coffee to even realize.

All I know is that after the shop emptied out again in the late afternoon, we sat down and talked for ages about any random things we could think of, just enjoying each other's company. We even shared the cake that Craig and I had made the night before, munching away at it whilst gulping down coffee and hot cocoa until we were completely stuffed.

At one point, although it was so quiet that it was only just about audible, I heard Tweek whisper, "You're the best birthday present I've ever had…" as he smiling coyly in my direction.

I let out a quiet chuckle, "Well I don't think you've seen them all yet!" I went over to fetch the bag that Craig had left behind that we had hidden away whilst people had been coming in and out, "Here. Open it."

He looked between me and the bag and then took it from me, slowly dipping his hand in and pulling out the multitude of gifts one by one. The first item was some tangle-free headphones, which I assumed would be pretty useful for him. He seemed like the kind of person that would get them tangles easily and then freak out when he couldn't unknot them with his shaky hands.

The next thing was a really cool coffee mug in the shape of a camera lens covered in bubble wrap. It was definitely an odd gift, but Tweek smiled as he saw it, so he must have been pleased with it, as well as taking a few moments to pop at the wrapping around it with a large grin on his face. It surprised me, I assumed he would have been scared of that he continued to delve into the bag, he pulled out a small, round stress ball. As he pulled it out, he squeezed it a few times before nodding contently and adding it to the pile of already discovered gifts.

I was perfectly content in watching him take out his presents, but it didn't take long for me to notice that his facial expression had changed slightly. It was less smiley and more... I don't know, really. He was just staring inside the bag, quite blankly, actually.

"What is it?"

"N-nothing. Okay, that's a-all of it."

I quirked my eyebrow at him, but he tried to avoid my gaze. I saw him glance at his wrist and saw a loose elastic band hanging from it. I had seen him with it before but had avoided asking him about it. When he saw me looking at it quizzically, he pulled his jacket sleeves down over it and grabbed at the birthday bag, stuffing all of his presents in as carefully as possible.

I dived at it quickly, pulling it away from him and digging to the bottom. There was a ball of elastic bands at the bottom, with one extra-thick one with the words 'Calm Down' hand written across it. Tweek glanced at me anxiously as I looked at it, but I decided that if it made him freak out so much by me just looking at it, asking about it would make it worse. Instead I just sighed and pushed it back in his direction. It wasn't worth the trouble and it would be so much easier to just move on and go back to relaxing and just talking about whatever random topics that came to mind.

* * *

Craig

The harsh winds of the fall air slapped against my face as I sat in the front of Token's car. We were both silent as he sped through the streets in the direction of the arcade. I wanted to know what was going through his mind. I knew he probably thought that I was an absolute idiot and a traitor for even interacting with Kyle at all, but to be honest I didn't really care. That look of relief and genuine happiness on Tweek's face when I told them was enough to let me know that it was all worthwhile. I knew from before I had even started it all that both Clyde and Token would get over it because none of us had ever had much of a problem with Kyle to start with; it was just the others we didn't like, so it wasn't that big of a deal, really.

I tried to allow my mind to wander away from the whole situation; it was done, finished, over. It was no longer anything to do with me and anything that pursued wasn't my business or my problem. I had assumed that the moment I 'gave' Kyle to Tweek, a giant weight would be lifted from my shoulders and everything would be fine again, like things were previously, but they weren't. If anything, it was worse.

I permanently had a mental picture of Kyle in the back of my mind and no matter how hard I tried to forget about him, the image just became more prominent and harder to ignore. I could hear his sweet laughter ringing throughout my ears, but it contradicted the sad look his face offered me. His wide green eyes glistened as he stared, looking confused and upset. It was the look he had given me when he had asked me if he had 'done anything wrong'. I had wanted to tell him. I had wanted to tell him what it was the whole situation that had my mind so consumed. That it was him. That he was all I could think about and although it wasn't something he had done wrong, it was bugging the crap out of me. But I didn't tell him. Instead I flat-out rejected him, hoping that it would register in my brain and I would be able to stop all the redhead led thoughts that plagued my mind.

But it didn't work. Not by a long shot.

I groaned to myself quietly as I mulled over my predicament, praying that once we got to the arcade I would be able to focus on the party instead of the redheaded Jewish boy. Token must have heard me because he glanced in my direction, but I flipped him off before he could even open his mouth so he rolled his eyes and turned back to facing the road. I didn't mean to act like such a dick, but I really wasn't in the mood for any more questioning.

As we pulled up near the arcade, we got out and saw Clyde park up beside us in his own car. He dragged out the bags of decorations and shit and distributed them between us as we lugged them into the main building. It was eerily empty for a Saturday, but that was because Token had gone through with hiring it out for the night and so now we had the whole place to ourselves before all of our friends turned up. As soon as we entered, Clyde, like the excitable fool that he is, decided to throw all his bags to the floor and run around like a maniac, laughing at the top of his lungs as he swerved around various games machines in glee at the sight until he ran out of breath and came back to a halt in front of me and Token, panting loudly.

"Finished?" I raised my eyebrow at him as he stared back at me with a shit-eating grin on his face, nodding at my question, "Fine. I guess we should start decorating then."

We spent ages throwing decorations everywhere, not really bothering to make it look neat but making sure it looked cool nevertheless. We didn't want to not do anything to it at all, because then it would just seem like just another night at the arcade, which wasn't what we were going for; we wanted it to be the party of all fucking parties. We dangled shit from the ceilings, lights and various other things so that when we later dimmed the usual lights and instead turned on the mood lights, everywhere was glistening and the reflective light graced the walls causing patterns to dance as things rustled around. It looked pretty freaking amazing in the end.

As I chucked a bunch of food into bowls and punch into jugs on a table in the corner of the room, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I took it out quickly and saw that it was Kyle calling. My throat dried up at the sight and I stared at it dazedly, not quite sure whether or not I should answer it. Just as I was about to accept the call, however, the ringing stopped and I let out a quiet sigh. I placed it back in my pocket, just as I heard a loud boom of music blast throughout the arcade. I glanced over to Clyde who was next to the DJ booth that Timmy was in charge off. They were both rocking out together and so I walked away in search of Token. I only saw him from a distance, but he was on the door, letting a few people in whilst chatting to someone with dark hair. It was still quite early in the night so only a few people had began to trickle in, but everyone was preoccupied with their own things so I went back to finishing up the snacks and stuff before slumping off onto one of the game machines. I decided that if I was going to be spending my night here, I might as well get a few good games in before everyone else arrived and pissed me off because I'd have to wait about half an hour to play a five minute round.

* * *

**A/N: HELLO!**

**What can I say… Tweek's got the best birthday present ever. If I got Kyle for my birthday, I would be soooo happy. *Craig's voice***

**|But seriously guys, the next chapter is pretty 'action' packed. And I'm not too great at that stuff, so bear with me on this one if it takes a bit longer than usual to update!**

**Thank you for any favs, follows and reviews, I really appreciate all the support you guys give me! **

**And I tried to include as many of the presents as I could in this without overloading it, I had actually forgotten about them for a while, but I'm happy I remembered now :)**

**See you soon!**

**^.^ **

**XXX**


	17. The Party

Craig

After about twenty minutes of game play, I came back to 'reality' when I realized that the place was packed full of over at least hundred people and the night had barely begun. The music was still earsplittingly loud as it bellowed throughout the building, the floor practically shaking as people jumped up and down in time with the rhythm. I struggled through the crowds, looking for my friends as I got jostled around in the swarm of my peers. Luckily, because of my height I easily spotted them and made my way over to where they were. Clyde was leaning against a wall with Bebe's curvy body pushed tightly against his, her arms slinking seductively around his neck as she pecked at him lavishly. He was obviously extremely enjoying it; he's had a massive crush on her for most of our lives and so I decided against disturbing them. Instead I pushed further through the crowd and found Token. He was with his girlfriend Lola, who was perched on his lap as they sat on the seats that surrounded the room. I could see him whispering something into her ears and I just about made out her face blushing as she swatted him playfully. I groaned loudly, not that anyone could hear, and made my way to the exit. I needed some air.

As I got to the door, I recognized the person who was standing there in charge of letting people in. Kevin fucking Stoley, fully equipped with his Star Wars themed t-shirt and jacket.

"Hey, Craig!" he greeted me cheerfully as I frowned at him in return.

"What the hell are you doing on the door, Kevin?"

"It's my job to let people in," he smiled at a random group of giggling girls who passed by us and entered the arcade, before looking back at me cheerfully, "Token said that I could do it but if I didn't I wasn't invited, but that was okay because I like doing this. I can hear the music from here."

I shook my head in annoyance, "Do you even know who they were?"

"Who? Those girls? Well, no. But I assume they go to our school or something."

"So you're just letting random people that we don't know in?"

"Er… I'm not the most social of a person, I don't know the difference."

"Kevin… Jesus Christ," I couldn't even be bothered to argue with him.

I walked further outside so that I was met once again by the chilling air, my body slightly quaking as a gust of wind blew in my direction. I pulled my phone back out as I quickly typed in a number I hadn't really used much, but had already committed to memory. I tapped my foot impatiently as I waited to hear a voice on the other end, leaning against the cold brick wall behind me. After a lot of rings, I was about to give up before I faintly heard someone on the receiving end.

"Hello?"

"Hey… It's Craig."

"Yeah. I know. Caller I.D," there was a hint of bitterness in his voice as he spoke, but I tried not to let it get to me; it was Kyle.

"Look, I need your help. Are you still with Tweek? Because Clyde and Token have pretty much forgotten the whole purpose of this arcade thing, so could you… could you get him down here somehow because I don't think they're going to be able to come and get him…" There was silence on the other end of the phone; I wasn't sure if it was because he just didn't want to respond or because something was wrong with the line, "Hello?"

"I heard you, Craig. Fine, I'll get him down there," his words were quiet as he spoke through gritted teeth and he hung up the phone so that all I could hear was the dial tone ringing out.

'Damn, he must be really pissed off with me', I sighed to myself as I slid further down the wall, my head dropping into my knees. I didn't see what the big deal was. All I had done was given them the ability to be friends without them feeling like they had to hide it from us; in what way was that a bad thing? In no way. In no way was that a bad thing. So why did I feel so guilty? Was it because I felt like I had lied to Kyle? But I hadn't, I'd just slightly altered the truth. Either way I felt like I'd done something terrible, and I hated it. I hated the idea of me having some kind of fucking conscience. I do bad shit all the time, but it never affects me. It was only when Kyle came waltzing into the picture that I've had trouble with being able to control myself, being able to control my thoughts, my feelings, my life.

I let out another annoyed growl as I stared up at the night sky, the stars twinkling behind the giant grey cloud that was slowly making its way over to where I was. I decided to make my way inside again, even though I wasn't very enthusiastic. The stench of sweat and desperation wafted around as most of the people inside were either dancing on what after we'd rearranged things was made into the main dance floor or making out in various places in and around there. All of the games were taken by random people, so it wasn't like I had any choice but to observe everyone else around me. It was pretty sickening actually; the sight of people sucking each other's faces off or grinding seductively against each other was enough to make me feel like I'd just walked onto the set of some kind of porn movie. I pushed my way through until I was on the opposite side of the room and was next to the DJ booth with Timmy and I sat and watched everyone in irritation. I should have expected it really, but I thought that people would have at least waited until a bit later in the night to start with that shit.

"Hey, dude," as I looked up from the ground, there was Stan Marsh, donning his varsity football letterman jacket as he stood with his arms crossed and a smug smirk on his face.

Behind him stood Cartman and Kenny who looked equally full of themselves and they opted to take the same stance as they gazed down at me conceitedly. I wanted to do nothing more than punch them all in their faces right there and then, but I kept my cool as I glared daggers back at them.

"What do you want? How did you even get in here?" I shouted over the music between gritted teeth.

"Kevin let us in," Stan laughed cockily, "Guess your plan of not letting us in didn't work, right?"

"What the fuck do you want, Marsh?" I repeated. I was rapidly reaching my breaking point.

"Well, we needed to talk to you," he shot a glance at his friends before looking back to me, "About Kyle."

I instantly felt a rock fall to the pit of my stomach as he uttered the words, and it probably showed on my face as I saw his grin widen slightly. I attempted to speak, but my mouth refused to let anything out as I stood there gormlessly. Eventually, I refocused my mind and choked out a few words.

"What about Kyle?"

The three boys chuckled at my response, causing me to frown, and Stan took another step towards me, so that he could speak at a quieter tone into my ear, "Look, we're going to give you the chance to explain yourself about this whole 'truce' bullshit right now, and then maybe we won't have to come to any further misunderstandings."

What the fuck was he talking about 'further misunderstandings'? "It's none of your fucking business."

"Well, that's where you're wrong, Tucker," Cartman took a step forward, sneering at me, "It is completely our business. You see, I've been onto you. I knew you had a plan from day one."

I searched his eyes angrily, hoping for some clue as to what was going through his mind, "Who said I was planning anything?"

They all let out another chortle before Cartman continued, "But you were, Craig. I bet it was your plan all along to get a free chance to spend the entire week with him, even getting him to lie about where he is so that he could stay with you," his eyes were glistening as he stared into my eyes arrogantly, "We know all about your faggy little crush on our dear friend Kahl, Craig."

I felt my eyes widen at the words, but I forced my face to stay blank as I again took to searching his eyes, this time trying to call his bluff. There was no way he could know about that, right? I had only worked it out myself the night before. His eyes stayed fixed as I refused to break away, hoping that he would back down, but he didn't.

"Stop with your bullshit, Cartman," I finally growled back angrily, pulling back, but keeping my eyes set on his.

"Bullshit? So is that why I have visual evidence of you trying to kiss Kahl last night?" his words were tainted with venom as his smirk grew at the sight of my face obviously crippling under the accusation.

"I didn't fucking try to kiss him," I hissed back, trying to hold my ground, even though mentally all my guards were crumbling down.

"Photos would suggest otherwise," Cartman broke away the stare and thrust his phone out in front of me, revealing a photo of me pinning Kyle to the ground, my head leaning down close to his. Oh fuck.

"That… T-that isn't what it looks like… we were fighting…" I stammered, hastily looking around for a getaway but there were none in sight due to the massive crowds of people.

"Really? Because Kahl and I fight all the time, and we've never got to a point where we look like we're about to start fucking making out with each other," he smirked.

"Well maybe that's because you're a fat fuck and Kyle wouldn't dare put his lips anywhere near you," his smirk vanished as I snapped at him and he didn't even give me a chance to think about what I'd just said before he slammed his fist into my stomach.

"We didn't come here to cause trouble," Stan sneered as he watched me double up in pain in front of them, "All we wanted to tell you is that you'd better leave Kyle alone from now on."

"And… if I… don't?" I choked out, coughing as I tried to regain the breath that had been knocked out of me.

His eyebrows raised and he glanced over at his fat friend before looking back my way, "If you don't, well let's just say everyone in school might have to hear about this new… information. It won't affect Kyle because it's clear that he's totally not interested in you, so I think it's for the best that you just accept that we've won and you've lost. We've got what we needed and you've tried and failed to get what you wanted. Let's just call it quits and agree that _we beat you_," the last three words rolled off of his tongue with venom as he shot one last arrogant grin at me before turning around and attempting to walk away.

I couldn't believe it. These fucking _assholes_, the guys who Kyle considered his friends, were trying to blackmail me. It was a serious threat, if they spread information around school that I was gay, I would be a social pariah. Nobody in our school was, or at least not publicly, gay, which would make it even worse. I would be the test dummy. The one everyone pushed the boundaries of to see just how much hate and abuse they could throw at me before it sent me over the edge of insanity.

But I felt like I had already reached that edge.

"You don't fucking deserve him," I shouted at their retreating figures, and they turned back around to face me.

"Maybe, maybe not," Stan started, smirking as he did so, "But at the end of the day, _we_ have him and _you_ don't."

I couldn't take it anymore. Just that way he was looking at me. Like he'd won. Because he thought he had. But I wasn't going down that easily.

I struggled to my feet and threw myself at him, launching my fist into his face as I did so. Just as I did that, the music immediately cut out and the normal lighting came on whilst everyone gasped as they saw us struggling on the floor in front of them. Unsurprisingly, most of the bystanders were cheering for Marsh, but that's because he's just one of those popular people that has a lot of 'friends', but they were the kind of friends that would drop him in an instant if he did something 'uncool'. Losing this fight would probably knock him down a few pegs, so that spurred me on more.

I felt my blood boil as my fist continually shot forward to hit him in any way possible, my mind not functioning to do anything but to leave him unconscious. As my body grew weary after my initial burst of energy, he took his first chance to get up and slam me against the wall, people willingly clearing the way so that they wouldn't get caught up in the middle of it. I felt his hot breath against my face as his hand collided with my face, causing my head to crash against the brick behind me and bursts of light to explode behind my eyelids at each impact. There was a shooting pain that flew through me, my lip had blood trickling down my face and although I couldn't reach and feel for it, I assumed the back of my head did too. I tried to break free of his tight grip on my neck as he choked me, but his grasp was too tight and I struggled to breathe behind his muscular hands. I guess picking a fight with a star quarterback wasn't the greatest idea in hindsight.

"Craig!" I heard the faint sound of Clyde and Token scream out behind Stan, but they were immediately tackled by Cartman and Kenny before I could get a chance to see them.

"You're friends can't help you now," Stan sneered into my ear before his grip on my neck tightened and his fist flew into my stomach again and his legs jerked forcefully against mine, sending a searing amount of pain through my body.

I couldn't breathe. The wind had been completely knocked out of me and I had no way of regaining the oxygen without choking on it. Instead, I felt myself become lightheaded and dizzy as everything around me became hazy, the last thing I saw before my eyes slammed shut being Stan fucking Marsh's smug smirk in front of me. I suddenly felt the grip instantaneously relax and I used my last ounce of strength the swing at his face before dropping to my knees in exhaustion.

To my surprise I heard a thud beside me and I used the few ounces of energy I possessed to force my eyes open to see Marsh's body lying on the ground next to me. I didn't understand it; I hadn't hit him that hard, I mean I didn't even have enough strength to stand up on my own, so why had he fallen so suddenly?

"What the fuck is going on here?" I heard a quiet voice cry out.

That's why.

I winced as I lifted my head to the source of the sound, and there was Kyle shaking just as much as the blonde who was cowering next to him. Actually Tweek was latching onto Kyle's like his life depended on it, his body quivering as he glanced back and forth anxiously between me and the redhead. Kyle, well he just looked shocked. His face was so pale and his eyes glistened in the light as if he were about to cry. I felt like I was going to be sick.

"Kyle… I…" I tried to stand up, but my legs wouldn't allow me to.

He ran towards us, but to my dismay he fell to his knees beside Stan and not me. He shook him gently, trying to get a reaction. His voice was so concerned as he repeated the boy's name over and over until the dark haired boy gave a slight response. Stan feigned being disorientated as he slowly got back to his feet, but I saw him smirk at me as I let out a groan and dropped my body back down so that I was lying flat on the floor. I felt my own friends huddle around me but I pushed them away as I struggled to crane my neck in an attempt to watch Kyle. He still looked anxious as he inspected Stan's face for markings. He refused to look in my direction as he did so; he kept his eyes firmly on his own friends who were all pretending to be hurt whilst he silently took in the situation.

"_Kyle_-" I croaked, hoping he would at least give me a chance to explain myself.

He didn't.

"Come on guys…" he let Stan droop himself over his small shoulders and they made their way to the exit.

Just before they did so, however, I heard Cartman scoff as he nudged Kyle gently in the arm, "This is why you don't trust people like Craig, Kahl."

Kyle just nodded solemnly, his head facing the ground as they quickly exited; Cartman and Kenny making a quick stop at the table full of refreshments and grabbing as much as they could carry before following them out.

Clyde and Token lifted me to my feet and dragged me out of the room and away from the gawping party guests to the nearest bathroom and Tweek quickly followed us from a distance, obviously still shaken from the events. As soon as we entered the room, I rushed to a stall and dropped my head in front of the toilet before vomiting into it uncontrollably. I don't know what caused it; maybe it was the extreme blows that had been made to my stomach, or the fact that the thought of Kyle leaving with those assholes actually made me feel physically sick.

All I knew was that we had wanted this to be a memorable night, and it had been.

* * *

**A/N: PartypartyPARTEH! **

**OMG. WTF, right?**

**THEY'RE SO MEAN D': Do you guys think I'm making Team Stan too asshole-ish? I mean, they're supposed to be mean, they're the antagonists I guess, Cartman especially. I just don't want to make them too out of character...? But it _is_ Kyle, and I know Stan would fight hard to protect his SBF so, argh, it's hard to find the balance.**

**Okay, so let me now explain the Kyle/Tweek thing before I forget. A lot of you were like AHMAHGOD DOES HE HAVE A CRUSH ON KYLE (or something to that effect) and the answer is, well, no. I'd like to think of it as a cute little bromance more; Kyle has just always been there for Tweek when their groups have been fighting and so they've bonded a lot over the time which means that now Tweek feels like he is allowed to be close to Kyle without keeping it a secret it feels like one of the best things like ever. Plus Kyle obviously has a soft spot for him because who would really put up with him when he is in his most crazy and vulnerable states if they didn't like them? NO ONE, THAT'S WHO.**

**Reviews, follows, favorites, the whole shabang, I love them all. I love seeing reviews in my inbox when I wake up in the morning or when I get home in the afternoon, they make so happy arghhh. So if whether you love or hate (hopefully love, or just like, whatever) the story, I would totally appreciate the amount of time you could take to write one!**

**So as you should all know, I love you all just for reading this and staying with me on this crazy ride of a story, see you on the next update!**

**^.^**

**XXX**


	18. The Off Duty Agent

**A/N: Reading this back, it's kind of like a recap chapter. It's not really how it was meant to turn out, but hopefully you won't hate me for it and I promise I'll do better next chapter… This chapter's set on the Saturday afternoon, so all the crazy violent shit of Saturday night hasn't happened yet… I just needed to fill in some gaps and stuff.**

* * *

Ike

Scrolling down on my laptop, I looked at the wealth of knowledge that I had access to. I was surprised I had gotten so much actually. Craig was usually very hard to get information on, but it seemed that this time around he gave me a lot more to work from. Which was good because there was no doubt that they made my final conclusions very interesting to say the least.

"That's right, the job is done. You're officially off duty," I lay back in my chair, my short legs propped up so that they were on my desk, phone pressed to my ear.

"But… I don't know if I'll be able to hide it… He'll find out and he'll kill me!"

"He won't find out, Ruby."

"He will! He'll find out I've been spying on him and he'll hate me forever!"

"If you don't say anything, he'll never know. Trust me."

"But-"

"Just trust me," I hung up the phone with a huff, placing it in my pocket and leaning further back.

All this spy management was an exhausting business. I liked Ruby, she was pretty nice. Her tough-girl exterior would sometimes be a bit annoying to put up with, but I knew that when she wasn't at school or at least when there weren't lots of people around she was really just a timid girl who worried too much about little things and was pretty sensitive on the inside. She was reliable and didn't usually ask too many questions though, I could trust anything she told me without wondering if she was covering something up or under the cover of her own conspiracy and she usually just did what I asked her to without wanting to know too much because so she could be held less 'responsible' when it all came to a final conclusion.

For the entire week, I had as many people as I could manage to use on patrol to make notes on everything and anything my brother and Craig Tucker did together. That, therefore, meant that I had to call in a lot of favors, but most importantly from Craig's younger sister Ruby, so that I would know what they did whilst they were at his house. She had been quite anxious about it, but I had taken the time to convince her that it was the right thing to do. Maybe it was my amazing persuasion skills or the fact that I threatened her I would tell Craig about the last time I used her to gather information about the stoic boy that convinced her, but somewhere along the line she reluctantly agreed.

She mostly just sat and listened to them from a distance, noting little things that they did or said together that she thought might be of some kind of significance. She gathered quite a lot of information actually, which was very helpful in the long run. After explaining to her that she had to make sure that Kyle didn't try to change Craig's mind about anything due to my deal with Cartman, she became a lot more wary of the dark haired teen spending time with my brother because it was easier to separate them than to mediate their conversation together. She told me she tried to keep Kyle occupied whilst Craig did his own thing, but the noirette persistently continued to try to get my brother back from her. Which I found interesting.

She also noted that the two teenage boys had an awkward encounter where Craig was trying to not look at Kyle's ass which was pretty funny for her to watch and also that the boys spent a lot of time in a close proximity to each other. Craig had inexplicitly noted that he thought Kyle was pretty, he repeatedly called him princess and he invited him to have dinner with them even though he doesn't like his friends staying.

He also apparently smiled a lot. Well, a lot more than normal at least.

All of the information Ruby gathered was just half of the complete set of data I had on the two boys. Whilst at school, I had a few people on lookout to see if and how they reacted with each other during school hours with other people around. It was clear that something was happening between them, because both boys were unfocused when in each other's presence, apart from when they sat under Kyle's tree together, but as the name suggests, it's Kyle's tree. Nobody goes under there but him, which made the fact that he allowed Craig under there every day of that week that little bit more thought provoking. The boys didn't actually speak in front of other people though, and went to great lengths to avoid people seeing they were together including two instances of running home, one of which Kyle even felt that it was necessary to lie and say he was just going to 'study'. Which got me thinking, 'why would he lie'? I decided that he had something to hide, and I was already working under the impression that Craig had, so I did some sleuthing of my own when they entered my own home.

I tried calmly talking to Kyle when they walked in the door, but he obviously didn't want to talk to me. Which was fine. I could observe from a distance. I didn't let Craig know that I knew who he was, though; that would have blown my cover. No, I'm smarter than that. I think Kyle noticed me introduce myself to him too, knowing that I knew who he was, and his eyebrow quirked slightly, but he didn't say anything. They tried their hardest to stay away from me, but that obviously wasn't going to happen; I had a job to do.

I spent a while listening to them from outside of the door, crouched down so that if they suddenly ran out of the room it was less likely that I'd be spotted and stayed there for quite a long time. I could hear quiet murmuring behind the door and then the sound of Kyle's laughter. Not long afterwards, I heard a crash on the floor and then a lot of noise and commotion coming from within there. I peeked in discreetly enough that I wasn't caught and saw my brother sitting on Craig, holding him down whilst he gripped at his collar. I saw the dark haired boy's face go from one that was actually smiling to one of anxiousness and slight fear as he rushed out of the room, not noticing me as he swerved out of the room and into the bathroom, his hand not so subtly being held over his crotch.

And that's when I knew. Craig was freaking gay for my brother. So much so that he got a boner by them just pretending to fight. Strange kid.

So, because I had dirt on him, I almost immediately told Cartman. I staked them out for the rest of the night and got photographic evidence of the two in the kitchen; Kyle underneath unaware of the intentions of the boy above him who was bending down very close to him. I wasn't sure how to react to the whole situation; to my knowledge (which is normally about 99.1% accurate) Kyle wasn't gay, so I didn't have to worry about him returning any of Craig's advances, but it was still weird anyway. I may not know Craig very well personally, but I know enough about what he does and what he's like to know that he is not someone I really wanted to be friends with Kyle. I would say the same thing about Cartman if they hadn't had their weird sort of friendship from before I was even born.

I phoned Cartman straight after the other boy made his rushed exit from my house and the fat boy found it all hilarious and straight away started trying to come up with ways of using it against them. He hung up for a moment and called back a few minutes later asking for more information. Apparently he told Stan and Kenny about it and they were really pissed off, especially Stan; he said there was no way he was letting Craig get anywhere near his best friend again. Which I guess is a reasonable response and it meant I had one less job to do. If they were planning on telling Craig to leave Kyle alone I didn't have to get involved and it meant my cover had less chance of getting blown, which was obviously a good thing.

Although you may believe that I'm a 'bad person' for 'betraying' my brother in favor of his 'frenemy', but I'll have you know that I'm not. I tried to tell Kyle what I knew first, but instead of listening to what I had to say he told me to leave them alone and so I did. Even afterwards, I specifically told Cartman that I didn't want him to use what I found out to in some way cause problems for Kyle and he reluctantly agreed, but he still had that scheming look dancing on his face. I still don't know what he was planning on doing with it, but as long as it didn't affect my brother I didn't really care; Craig was none of my concern.

Kyle had left the house early that morning, and he had once again been with Craig, but I decided to dismiss the additional information, I had no reason to continue spying on them. But it did pique my interest when he didn't return for the rest of the day as I was pretty sure I had heard them both talking about it and it didn't sound like it was anything that would take more than a couple hours. I spent the day wondering, but it took me a while to bother calling. When I did, however, his phone went to voicemail and so I was left in contemplation. I decided to call Cartman and see if he was involved somehow, but he just mumbled something about there being a party he needed to crash. He didn't explain any more than that, but I didn't really want to know anyway. Instead I went back to my own business, catching up on any other news I missed during the week and getting ready for my hockey practice later on in the day.

Yes, I still play hockey. No, my team still doesn't win, even with me on it. We got to third place last season though. Which I guess is good.

I'm going to have to do something about that though; third is decent, but first is obviously the desired goal, second being a reluctant alternative. There are a few people I could call to help, but this one might involve an outside job…

* * *

**A/N: Ew, I don't think I'm happy with that chapter. Actually, I'm positive I hate it. It's the kind of chapter I'd read and be like 'What the FUCK was that?' **

**It's really short and pretty boring but I really needed to update. ****The people I talked to about it know just how pissed off I really am about this because I've literally been freaking out about it. **I'm going to update the next one as quickly as possible though, so hopefully that'll make up for this monstrosity of a chapter. 

**I didn't even know what to put, I just had to write some sort of explanation of how the guys knew about Craig and so… I guess that's about it. Ike's pretty hard to write as a really smart secret agent because I'm not super smart… or an agent… And I didn't want to randomly add Craig or Kyle in there because the timing would be wrong and I feel like Ike should have his chapters to himself to stop confusion. **

**I didn't know what else to write, so I was all like 'let's throw a 'stereotypical hockey-playing Canadian' joke in there to end it and hope they don't think that's a total cop-out', but it was.**

**I'm just really really sorry for this, okay?**

**If you want to review and tell me how shit this chapter was, go ahead. I'd appreciate it actually, it might tell my brain to stop slacking off and to come up with some better stuff for you.**

**Oh well, thanks for reading anyway,**

**^.^**

**XXX**


	19. The Messages

Craig

It's needless to say that by Sunday morning, news was buzzing about the confrontation between my gang and Stan's. Nobody knew the real reason, but they all came up with their own theories as the gossip spread like wildfire. Most people had been at the party anyway, so the majority had seen it all first hand, however it didn't stop them from continually discussing it for the remainder of the weekend.

My cell phone was vibrating constantly with various people that I've never really talked to asking me about what had happened and it was seriously starting to piss me off; the only reason I didn't turn it off completely was because I was hoping that at least one of those messages might be from Kyle. None of them were, though.

I tried calling him, texting him, emailing him, I tried everything. But he gave absolutely no response to any of them. It was killing me, because, well, I was scared. And I'm usually afraid of nothing. But the ambiguity of situation meant that I didn't know exactly what was going through the redhead's mind. Did he know how I felt about him? I wasn't sure if the assholes had said anything to him about it or not and so because of that I didn't know what to do. But Kyle was smart; he might have worked it out on his own. I doubted it though, he may be smart, but he was also quite naïve, although he'd hate to admit it. Kyle often likes to analyze things thoroughly but it often means he misses the things that are obvious. The things that are _literally_ right in front of him.

I lay on my bed, exhausted from my lack of sleep, my music blaring loudly through my speakers as it blasted throughout my house. My parents and my little sister were at church so I had the house to myself like I always do on a Sunday and so I tried to make the most of it. I had it up to its maximum volume and let the sound travel around my home whilst I drowned my sorrows in a giant bowl of cereal, however the deafening sounds only brought back up bad memories of the night before and so I stopped my comfort-eating and immediately turned the music off as I felt an all-too-familiar churning in my stomach at the recollection. I crawled silently and sat in the center of the room for a while, thoughts swirling around in my head as I stared vacantly out of the window. The sun was trickling in through the gaps in the clouds, allowing oddly placed rays of light to make its way through and scatter itself throughout my room.

As my head tilted slowly as I followed the beams around, I narrowed my eyes as one fell onto the main poster that Kyle and I had made to promote selling our cakes. Not that it seemed like we were going to be able to finish doing that project properly, though.

I made my way over to the rolled up poster and opened it carefully, gazing at its incompleteness in contemplation. There didn't appear to be any point in finishing it, but it seemed to be better than doing any other kind of homework so I decided to do it anyway.

The sketch was quite detailed already, but I erased a lot of the features of the person on there to replace them with new ones. I scribbled furiously, my mind focuses on getting it absolutely perfect as every line, every contour, every bit of color and shading was extremely accurate. It was good to engage in because it kept my state of mind sane whilst my phone continued to vibrate continuously. I checked it every ten minutes, but dismissed the countless messages as I scanned through and saw no trace of Kyle's number. It occurred to me that that might be what it's like to be popular; people trying to talk to you twenty-four seven, even when you don't really give a shit about what they have to say. Perhaps that's another reason why I try to make people think I'm an asshole. Yeah, maybe. Or maybe I just was one. I assumed that's what Kyle thought now, anyway.

I shouldn't have cared. I tried to push him away the day before, hoping it would mean that I could forget about him, but all it did was make me want him more. His absence was eating away at me, knowing that I had just made a giant mistake and not allowing me to forget about it. I used the art to escape, but as soon as I put the pencil down, it would all flood back. The thoughts, the memories, the regrets.

Time ticked on and it soon occurred to me that it had gotten to be pretty late in the day. My mom had knocked on the door at one point to tell me they had gotten home, but I dismissed it and went back to doing my work. She didn't even hang around long enough to realize all of the markings I now had on my face, but I didn't really care. All she'd do is fuss about them if she saw them anyway, so I guess it was good she didn't see them.

Whilst I was mulling over those thoughts, it also made me realize that my room had been quiet all day. And not just because of the lack of music, but because of the lack of another voice. I slowly picked by sluggish body off of the floor of my bedroom, slightly wincing at the sharp pain originating in my stomach and exited the room before making my way across the hallway and knocking on Ruby's door loudly.

There was no response on the first few raps, so I pushed it open quietly, peering in to see what she was up to. No matter what, Ruby always made an attempt to come into my room to find out what I was doing, whether she was genuinely interested or just because she wanted to be annoying. I hated it and always ordered her to get back out, but when she didn't do it, it concerned me.

Once I entered, my suspicions made sense because there she was, in the centre of her floor, drawing in her giant sketchpad silently. She did the exact same thing as I did when I had a problem or was upset about something by escaping to art and so I automatically knew there was something wrong with her.

I made my way across the room and sat next to her on the carpet, my legs pulled into my chest as I stared down at her art work. It was just looping colors, dark green and blue hues swirling across the page, intertwining and cutting through each other's paths. Her eyes stayed fixed on it as she tensed at my positioning, but she stayed silent.

"Come on, Ruby. You know what I'm going to ask you."

"I've done something bad…"

"What? What did you do?" I looked at her apprehensively, searching her eyes as she looked up at me sadly.

"I can't- Wait… what happened to your face?" she dropped her crayons and sat on her knees, observing the markings on my face more closely.

"I got in a fight."

"With who?" she frowned at me, but she still looked anxious.

"Just some stupid assholes from school."

"Like who?" her eyes were wide as she stared into mine intently.

"Kyle's 'friends'…" I sighed quietly.

"K-Kyle?" she choked out in a quiet tone before dropping back down to her previous position, staring at the drawing in front of her.

"Yeah. But it's fine. I'm fine. Don't look so worried."

I was lying; I was in so much pain. My head was still extremely sore, I couldn't move my body without my abdomen shooting pain throughout me and it hurt like a bitch to stand up on my legs because of the continuous kicks that Stan had awarded me with. But I couldn't tell Ruby that. I had to tell her I was fine because she's an extremely sensitive person when it comes to people having problems, I couldn't give her anything else to worry about on top of global warming and dying animals and all that other hippy shit.

"But that's not the point. What bad thing have you done?"

"I can't tell you..." she whispered, not looking away from the paper in front of her.

"Yes you can."

"No, I can't."

"Yes-"

"Craig, I can't tell you!" she suddenly snapped, before clutching her head in her hands, "But I did something and now I think some bad stuff has happened because of it..." her sad eyes met mine as a slow tear fell down her cheek.

If I hadn't been feeling bad enough already, this just made it worse. I hated seeing my little sister upset, especially when there didn't seem to be a way I could help. She refused to tell me what it was that she had done that was so bad, but it was obviously something she considered to be pretty serious.

"What do you want me to do to help...?" I eventually asked softly, nudging her so that I could regain her attention.

Without responding, she fell onto my shoulder and began sniffling onto my sleeve, her arms wrapped tightly around my own. I gently moved her so that she was lying against my chest (even though it still really hurt) and I pulled my arms around her so that I was hugging her sympathetically, trying to be as supportive as I could. I wasn't used to being the compassionate older brother, but I tried my best to make her feel better as she started to relax a little in my hold.

"Craig?" her speech was muffled as she spoke into my rib cage.

"Yeah?"

"Would you ever hate me? Even if I did something really really bad?"

"What? No, of course not," I replied with a frown.

"Oh..." she stayed silent for a few more moments, but then piped up again, "Why did you get in a fight with Kyle's friends? Is it because they found out you've been hanging out with Kyle over here?" she turned her head upward to face me, her eyes still anxious.

"Er... It's a bit more complicated than that," her facial expression changed, but I couldn't really read it very well; I wasn't sure if it was some sort of relief or if she got more concerned, or some sort of mix of the two, but she still looked somewhat troubled by my answer and so I just sighed and wrapped my arms tighter around her to get her to stop asking questions. The less she knew about the situation, the better.

After a while, she started to relax more and became her usual perky self and she somehow roped me into playing some of her girly-ass games with her. I hated them, but I dealt with it because I was much happier being annoyed by my sister than being worried about her. I still wanted to know exactly what it was that she had claimed to have done, but knowing her, she was making a big deal out of something that wasn't as bad as she assumed it to be and dismissed the thoughts of asking again; I didn't want to risk upsetting her again after all.

By the time it came for us to go to bed, I made sure she was settled before making my way back to my own room. The sun had obviously set and so I was greeted by the silvery glint of the moon entering my room instead as it fell back onto the paper in the centre of the room. I pushed it aside and got myself ready for bed, vowing that I wasn't going to let my thoughts be consumed by it anymore and I was actually going to have a decent night's sleep that night.

I didn't get my decent night's sleep.

* * *

Craig

On Monday morning, I dreaded going back to school. I even considered not going at all, but Clyde arrived earlier than usual at my doorstep, forcing me to get dressed and ready whilst he chatted happily to my sister about random shit outside the door. I really need to stop letting my sister interact with my friends.

"Come on bro!" he eventually hammered on my door as I lazily dragged on a pair of jeans and threw a t-shirt over my head before rushing out to meet him.

He smiled brightly at me as he bounded down the stairs and led both me and my sister into his car. After dropping her off at school, we continued the journey to our own in quiet. The radio was on and the soft humming of the music drifted around us, but other than that there was silence.

"So... Does it hurt?" Clyde suddenly asked, his eyes fixed on the road whilst his hand gestured blindly towards my face and torso.

"Of course it fucking hurts," I grunted back, propping my head up on my fist as I stared out of the side window, gazing at the blurring buildings we were passing.

"But we're gonna get them back, right?"

I stayed silent as I thought about it. I hadn't considered that yet, I had been more focused on wondering about Kyle that I completely disregarded any thoughts about revenge. I couldn't let them get away with it; they crashed our party, attempted to blackmail me and then attacked us (even if it was slightly provoked...). But if I did, all it would do would make Kyle hate me even more, which was obviously something I wanted to avoid, but I couldn't let those smug bastards think that they'd won. I couldn't.

"Craig? We're getting them back, right?" he glanced at me as he parked up his car outside of the school and narrowed his eyes in confusion, "Why wouldn't we get them back?"

"We'll get them back," I eventually growled out, stepping out of the vehicle and accidently slamming the door in the process.

We waited by the car until Token pulled up, both he and Tweek jumping out to greet us. We made our way into the building together and were immediately greeted by eyes staring at us as we made our way through the halls. The usual excitable sounds of pupils preparing themselves for a day of school had been reduced to a quiet buzz of chatter being exchanged through whispers. I tried to ignore it, but I ended up flipping off almost every person I saw at least glance in my direction. The constant attention was something I was used to avoiding my entire life, I like to live in the shadows of the social society of high school; nobody knows about me, and I don't give a crap about them, the way things are meant to be. But today, everyone seemed to think me and my gang were the most interesting topic to discuss. I didn't know exactly what they were discussing though, once again the ambiguity was present as I didn't know exactly what they did and didn't know about the situation.

"Hey, Craig!" a small girl lifted with very high heels greeted me cheerfully, her curly blonde hair bouncing on her shoulders as she swished in my direction.

Not very enthusiastically, I responded, "Hi, Bebe."

"So, me and the girls were wondering if you guys wanted to maybe hang with us at some point?" she was still grinning at me as her group of Lola, Red and Milly stood giggling behind her.

"What? Why?"

"Well, I've never really noticed how macho you were before..." she cooed, running her finger tip along the muscle on my arms as I flinched away from her, "Not many people would be able to beat Stan in a fight... but you? You're... special."

She took a step closer to me, her body uncomfortably close to mine as I stood awkwardly in front of her. She was still grinning at me, her thick eyelashes blinking as she stared at me as flirtatiously as possible.

"But... what about... but we..." Clyde stuttered behind me dejectedly, his voice pained as he tried to formulate a sentence to the busty blonde.

"Well, Saturday was fun, Clyde, but I guess I'm just more in to guys who are more..." she didn't finish the sentence as I felt her arm attempt to snake around mine, but I quickly resisted by crossing my arms across my chest.

Lola had already made her way so that she was hanging off of Token's arm and Milly and Red were busy whispering and giggling in a hushed tone to each other, their eyes constantly flicking back and forth between Tweek and Clyde who were still timidly standing behind my back. I could hear the faint pluck of an elastic band behind me, but I wasn't sure which boy it was coming from. All I knew was that I kind of wanted one myself.

"So how about it, Craigy?" What? Craigy? "We don't have to go with them lot, it can be just... you... and... me," she whispered the words slowly as she pressed her body close to mine, causing me to stumble backwards and fall against the lockers as my friends parted to make way for us.

"Er, no. Sorry," I mumbled as I tried to move away from her prying clutches.

She frowned but continued to bat her eyelashes at me, "But maybe afterwards we could..." I felt her fingers begin to caress my arms again and start to travel further down my chest.

"I said _NO_, Bebe," I suddenly pushed her away, a bit more forcefully than I had meant it to be as she staggered backwards.

She looked shocked, but then it turned to an irritated scowl, "Why not?"

"Because I don't like you and so I don't want to," I replied simply, but she still looked baffled.

"You... don't like me? How is that even possible?"

My eyebrow quirked at that, "The world doesn't fucking revolve around you Bebe. Yeah you have big boobs, but that doesn't make you a freaking God! You know why I don't like you? Because you're the kind of person who has all things in life handed to her on a motherfucking golden plate and who doesn't even acknowledge people if they aren't considered 'popular' or whatever, but as soon as someone does something to fit that criteria you just try to jump in their freaking pants and most of them let you, but you can fuck off if you think I'm one of those people, bitch," I've never been one to sugar-coat things, and I didn't plan on starting at any point soon.

"Wh- Wha- Craig! What the- Where are you going?" she protested behind me as I pushed my way past our groups of friends and started walking down the halls.

I flipped her off without looking back, "Away from you, you stupid whore."

"Y-You'll regret this, Craig! You don't get second chances with me, and you just blew it!" she yelled out to me.

I continued to tear my way through the halls, not even looking back for my friends that were calling out to me. There was only one person that I wanted to see, only one person I would allow to touch me, only one person who I would maybe even tolerate calling me 'Craigy' if it meant I got to bask in his presence.

"Butters," I called out to the timid blonde boy who flinched at the sound of my voice, "Do you know where Kyle is? I really need to talk to him."

"Oh h-hey Craig..." he looked up at me warily, intimidated by my presence. He was basically Cartman's little henchman, he would obviously be taking their side and be against me right now, "Er, no... I think, I think Kyle's in Russia."

"What the fuck?"

* * *

**A/N: LOL.**

**Kyle in Russia? That'll be interesting to explain. **

**So guys, Craig just practically got molested by Bebe, because she's a whore. The end. No, just kidding, there's a reason behind all of that, it's just yet to be explained- I think. **

**And aww, the cute brother-sister moment between Ruby and Craig? I think it's probably cuter in my head, but ah well. I hope you felt a cuteness vibe somewhere along the line.**

**There may be a few mistakes or just not make any sense because I had limited time to edit because it's my birthday (yay!) and I've got loads of work and I'm just generally a bit busy right now, but I promised I'd get this chapter up as soon as I could so here it is!**

**Oh and sorry for all the whining in the A/Ns for the past two chapters, I was just getting hella stressed for what now seems like no reason whatsoever.**

**As always, I love any reviews, follows and favorites you wish you to give me, so feel free to do so!**

**Aloha,**

**^.^ **

**XXX**


	20. The Russian Government

Craig

"Why the hell is Kyle in Russia?"

"I-I don't know... but I called Cartman yesterday to see if he wanted to come over and play a game with me and he said 'Fuck off, Butters, we're going to Moscow and I don't have time for your crap'," he put on his best Cartman impression (and to be honest it was pretty good) as he recalled the conversation, "I guess Kyle went too b-because I heard him calling him in the background, b-but it was loud because they were at the airport, I think. Then he hung up, so I couldn't ask him no more questions."

I just stared at him blankly for a few moments, but I didn't see the point in even bothering to persist asking why they were there; they do all this crazy shit all the time and nobody ever blinks an eye at their multiple disappearances. I mean, do their parents not wonder why they aren't home most of the time and when they don't come back home at night at least? And how do they just get let off of school and when they eventually come back the teachers don't even give a shit about it, but as soon as I arrive about ten minutes late in the mornings they act like I've just instigated World War III or something? Fucking assholes.

I groaned loudly, "When is he coming back?"

"Er... They usually only take a few days when they do this stuff..." so I obviously wasn't the only person who noted their several disappearances, "So m-maybe... Wednesday? But w-why do you need him? I thought you weren't friends?"

"It's complicated," I sighed, glancing at my watch, "Thanks anyway."

I darted off in the opposite direction, heading to my first class. Luckily for me, it was Art, so I had a chance to clear my head of all distractions. When the hour was over, I exited the room and found my three friends all waiting for me as we all walked to our next lesson together as we had the same one and my Art room was closest to our next. As we made the journey, they tried to question me about my outburst towards Bebe earlier that day, but I remained quiet on the matter.

"Dude... I still can't believe you rejected like, the hottest girl in our school..." Clyde pondered.

"She's not that hot," I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Yeah she is, bro!"

"It doesn't even matter how hot she is, dude, she's like the biggest whore in this damn school. I still don't get what you see in her. But that's another thing; she can't just expect me to go out with her when she blatantly knows that you like her. That's against, like, the bro-code or whatever that shit's called," I sighed.

"So you said no... For me?"

"Er..." I looked at his expectant face and gave him a small nod, causing his face to light up; he didn't need to know that there was another pretty big factor causing the rejection.

"Seriously? You're the best bro ever!" he wrapped his arms around me, but I quickly shrugged him off with a grunt, "Oh, sorry," he hummed, his smile still bright, "Okay guys, let's hurry and get to class!"

* * *

Kyle

I fucking hate my little brother sometimes. I have absolutely no idea how, but somehow he ended up being kidnapped by Russian spies and so my friends and I had to fly over to Russia to go and save him. I'm still not completely sure because we didn't bother to hang around and ask questions, but it had something to do with Ike trying to remotely hack into the Russian hockey team's computer so he could steal their hockey game-play secrets. Instead he accessed the actual government's files though and he ended up getting hunted down by the Russian government. Somewhere along the line of going into hiding, getting captured by their emissaries and being brought to Russia, he managed to use their own bank details to book us some return flights tickets to Moscow and back and then find a way of sending both them and a message to me before he got too out of reach. This kid. I swear he's worse than we were when we were his age.

The plane journey seemed never-ending and whilst Kenny and Stan spent the time scoping out hot chicks and Cartman spent it either harassing me or the other passengers and flight crew in some way, I tried to focus my mind on other things. More specifically: Craig Tucker.

I thought we were getting along. In fact, I thought we were becoming pretty good friends. But for some reason, he seemed like he didn't even want to be anywhere near me anymore and he wouldn't explain why. I had tried asking him, but he didn't even bother to respond. If it was just me it was affecting, it would still piss me off but I guess I'd have to just get over it, but it wasn't. Whatever I did must have really pissed him off because he ended up attacking my friends because of it. When I asked them about it, they just shrugged and told me 'he's a fucked up dude', but I know they know what it was about. The looks in their eyes tell me they know, but they also tell me that they're not planning on telling me anytime soon.

I _hate_ it; all these secrets. They drive me crazy, knowing that there's something that is purposely being held away from me, something important, and I can't get to it. I tried to work out what it was, what exactly I could have said or done that caused him to flip out to such a large extent. I mean, he knocked Stan unconscious for God's sake. But I didn't know. I considered it being something that the guys did but that didn't involve me, but once again when I asked them they disregarded the question and so I was left in a more confused position than I had originally been.

The rest of the journey involved me attempting to sleep, but all I could do was see Craig's dark eyes glaring at me each time my eyelids fluttered shut, causing me to regain my consciousness and restart the cycle of misunderstanding all over again. Eventually my exhaustion caused me to fall into what seemed like dreamless slumber but when I finally awoke again, I felt worse off than ever.

"Hey, Ky, are you alright?" Kenny's long bony fingers squeezed tightly on my shoulder as we eventually exited the flying vehicle, stopping us in our tracks, his face genuinely showing concern.

I tried to attempt a smile as I replied weakly, "Yeah, dude, I'm fine," but he looked unconvinced.

"Is it Craig?" he bent and whispered into my ear, his grip still present on my upper arm as he towered above me.

My body instantly tensed and I felt his grasp tighten, "W-what makes you say that? I mean, I'm worried about my brother-"

"You were muttering his name whilst you were sleeping, dude... You're lucky Stan was busy stopping Cartman from harassing the pilots, they would have been seriously pissed..."

I felt my face flush as Kenny continued to watch me curiously, his gaze following my eyes as I tried to look around for my absent friends, but all I could see were crowds of old people and business men and women leaving the flight, "Where are they now...?"

"They ran ahead to try to avoid getting stopped by security or something. They told me to get you and to follow after them."

"So... Why aren't we following?" I tried to slowly move away from him, but his grasp firmed on my shoulder bone.

"Because I want to know exactly what's going on between you and Craig."

I felt my face heat up again, although I wasn't sure why exactly, "I... don't know."

"We're not going anywhere until you tell me, Ky," he watched me sternly, but I kept trying to avoid his accusing stare.

"I honestly don't know," I practically choked out, my face still burning as I resorted in staring at the concrete ground in front of me, "I don't know what's going on. He's all pissed off at me for something, but nobody will tell me what it is and it's killing me!"

When my confession was responded to with silence, I glanced up and my eyes were met with narrowed cyan ones, scanning mine carefully. He released his hold on me and just watched me for a few moments, not moving at all. I whispered his name quietly, but all that did was cause his eyebrow to quirk slightly.

"We'd better catch up with Stan and Cartman," he eventually released a breath, his stare breaking as he turned around and started to break into a quick jog.

"W-wait, what? Kenny!" I hurriedly followed after him, feeling both annoyed and confused by his reaction, "Get back here!"

By the time we got to the exit of the airport, our two friends were waiting around the corner impatiently, they'd obviously been arguing about something during our absence. Kenny shot me an odd glance, but then ran off to meet them, leaving me behind once again. By the time I caught up to them all, we were whisked away in a (what I presume was stolen) car on our way to find Ike. Cartman was driving and arguing with Stan, who was giving directions from the map on his phone, in the front passenger seat whilst my blonde haired friend and I sat silently in the back. I tried to let my mind focus on what we were doing now and how I was going to find my brother, but my thoughts often drifted to the mysterious noirette back in Colorado. I constantly felt Kenny's hard stare falling on me each time I caught myself doing so, but I tried to ignore it because everytime I questioned him about it he stayed quiet.

"Kyle," the lanky blonde eventually shuffled to my side and hissed down into my ear, "You need to just forget about Craig."

"What, why?" I frowned up at him, questioning his premise.

"Look, I don't know what exactly to tell you..." he glanced up at our other friends and then his crystal blue eyes gazed back into my own forest green ones, "But somewhere along the line, someone's going to get hurt. I think it'll be easier if you just leave him alone now, it'll make things better in the long run. I don't want it to be you who gets hurt, Ky."

He had a knowing look in his eyes as he peered at me, waiting for my response, but I didn't give one. I didn't know how to. I knew that if I asked him to elaborate, he wouldn't, but without further explanation I didn't know how to react. Instead I just moved further away from him and stared out of the window moodily, trying to distract myself by peering at the Russian scenery. I heard Kenny sigh heavily, but he didn't try to continue the conversation, moving to the same position I was in, but on the opposite end of the car.

For some reason, I decided to check on my phone at one point and saw that I had quite a lot messages. I hadn't checked any of my messages since Saturday since I had been so preoccupied and so as I scrolled through the long list, I felt my body tense at the repeated number that had been sending me messages. There were loads, most of them asking for me to just call him. I glanced at my friends as I continued to scan through them, hoping they wouldn't notice my sudden on edge state. I had automatically gone to the bottom of the list and worked chronologically and so as I approached the more recent messages, I noticed the ones from the noirette had stopped and were replaced by a certain blonde.

I knew it was going to cost me a bomb because it was long-distance, but I needed to call him. As I waited through the rings, I nervously glimpsed at the other blonde who was still distracted by the surroundings and my other friends who had been reasonably quiet for a while in the front of the car.

"Hello?" I whispered into the receiver.

"H-hey K-"

"Look, I don't really have much time to talk dude, but I'm not going to be able to make it today. To work, I mean."

Due to Tweek's father being so impressed by my skills and fast ability to learn whilst I was helping out at Harbucks on the Saturday, he had offered me a job there and I had agreed almost immediately. I needed the extra cash and I really did like the job, it was fun. I was meant to go there after school that day, but unfortunately it wasn't really possible for me to fly back just to work and then fly back to get my brother. Fucking Ike. This was my first actual decent job (all my other one's sucked, they were either really boring or really gross) and I didn't want this to mean that I'd get fired before my first shift had even started.

"W-why? Where are you? I haven't seen you all day..."

"I'm... getting my brother back from Russian spies. So I'm in Russia."

"R-Russia? What the hell, man! W-Why are you involved with Russian spies?"

"My brother's an idiot," I stated simply.

Before I continue saying anything else, I heard some quiet muttering on the other side of the phone, a low growl contrasting with Tweek's higher yelping.

"Ah, Cr- Get off!_ No, Craig_," I could hear them struggling as I listened in on the confrontation.

"Hello...?" I interjected slowly as I heard the struggle die down.

"Kyle? Kyle, I need to talk to you," it was Craig's husky voice on the other end; he had obviously been fighting to get the phone off of the shaky blonde.

"Craig..." I spoke his name softly into the receiver, but automatically my three friends' heads whipped around to look at me; Cartman's eyes showing signs of irritation, Stan's of pure anger and Kenny's of... well I'm not really sure what of. It was just that knowing look he had given me before, like he had some kind of inside knowledge that I didn't possess.

"I need to tell you something-"

"I can't talk right now, dude," I saw my friends relax their harsh glances at my response to him, but they still looked slightly irritated, "Just... Just tell Tweek I'm sorry and I guess I'm sorry I'm not there for Home Ec with you either..."

I heard him attempt to say something else, but I had already pulled the phone away from my ear to end the call. I sighed quietly to myself as I placed it back in my pocket, hoping that I would be able to re-distract myself by looking out of the window whilst my friends continued to drive around looking for the Russian Government's HQ, but I felt even more agitated than I had before.

Craig would probably hate me more than ever now and that's definitely not what I wanted.

* * *

Craig

As we tucked into our usual lunch time feast, I couldn't help but subconsciously glance up at Kyle's tree every so often, hoping that he would miraculously appear sitting peacefully underneath it at some moment. He didn't.

I wasn't that hungry and so I slowly nibbled at a few chips whilst the others devoured it all ravenously. As usual, the conversation was menial and so I only drifted in and out of it. I mean, why do I want to talk about penguins or how hot Beyonce is or what time the game was on tonight? I didn't, but that's obviously what my friends wanted to discuss and I had no choice but to hang around.

"R-Russia? What the hell, man! W-Why are you involved with Russian spies?"

My head snapped up and I saw Tweek moving away from the table, his cell phone pressed firmly to his face as he started to look anxious. Did he just mention Russia? I quickly jumped up from my seat and followed him over to the wall he had made his way to, forcing my head against the ear his phone was against so that I could hear the conversation. He stared at me in confusion, but after I confirmed to myself that it was Kyle on the other side of the phone, I made a grab for it; I couldn't pass up that opportunity.

"Give me the phone, Tweek!" I stretched over him as he tried to hold it away from my reach, whining in response.

"Ah, Cr- Get off!_" _ He whimpered, as I pulled at his compressed palms, trying to release the device held inside of them, "_No Craig_!"

As we continued to struggle for the object, I poked at Tweek, wrestling him to the ground and pulling it out of his grasp. He fell into submission quickly, pouting whilst lying silently on the hard concrete beneath me whilst I sat on top of him.

"Hello...?" Kyle's gentle voice could be heard on the other side of the phone that was now in my possession and I immediately took it as my chance to explain myself to him.

"Kyle? Kyle, I need to talk to you," I started slowly, knowing I wanted to speak but not knowing exactly where I wanted to start with what I wanted to say.

"Craig..." the way he said my name sent a small shiver down my spine as if I could feel his warm breath tickling against me as he spoke quietly.

"I need to tell you something," I did; I needed to tell him everything, no matter where in the world he was.

Just as I prepared myself to reveal all, I heard Kyle murmur something in a low tone, so low that I didn't hear it. Instead of asking him to repeat it, I decided to ignore it and carry on speaking, the phone held out in front of my face so that he could hear my words as clearly as possible.

"Kyle, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for acting like a fucking dick to you and trying to push you away, but I honestly thought that it would be for the best. But it wasn't, it wasn't for the best. I can't handle feeling like you're angry at me, I mean, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about what I was planning with Tweek, but I didn't know if you'd go along with it if I did. I wanted you to trust me first, but obviously I've just gone and fucked all that up now and so all I want to do is know what I have to do to make it up to you because I'm truly sorry..." I sighed and took in a quick breath after the sudden confession.

As I placed the phone back to my ear, all I could hear was the repetitive beep of the dial tone, dull and dreary, ringing out throughout my head. Taunting me and my rejection.

* * *

**A/N: OMG KYLE, WHY DID YOU PUT THE PHONE DOWN?!**

**I hope you guys liked this chapter, **** if I didn't make it clear enough, the Kyle section and Craig's second section were occurring at the same time. **I thought it would be quite cool to do the 'scene' from both perspectives so I'd love to see what you thought about that.

**I swear, the actual Cryle is coming really soon. In like two, maybe three, maybe even one, but I currently assume two, chapters. I PROMISE. (- that's some serious shit right there.)**

**I love you guys, I hope I'll see my inbox filled with lots of reviews!**

**^.^**

**XXX**


	21. The Photo

**A/N: Okay, guys, I just want to start here by saying I'm so sorry about the long update. I know they're usually quicker than this was and so a lot of people have been asking why so it only seemed fair to tell you. I don't want to make excuses, but if any of you have talked to me outside of here you may know that I've been really ill lately and I've also been bombarded with a lot of work due to the time I've had to take off due to illness, so I've been pretty busy too. With all of that I've just been pretty overwhelmed lately and well all I can do is say I apologize and I hope you're not all too pissed. **

**The reason I'm saying all of this up here and not down at the bottom is because I'm going to try and work this to our advantage. Use the amount of time you've been waiting for a new chapter to empathize with Craig and how he's been feeling waiting for Kyle. So yeah, enjoy the chapter, guys.**

* * *

Craig

The wait for Kyle to come back from Russia seemed to take _forever_. They got back on the Wednesday, just as predicted, but they didn't come back to school until the Thursday. None of the teachers seemed to give a fuck that they'd been absent for three days, but that wasn't anything special; they always get special treatment. Maybe it's because Stan's the quarterback of the football team, the most notable of our school sports, or because they pity Kenny for being a poor piece of crap, or maybe they think that Kyle's dad might sue them or his mother will start some protest on the school or maybe they're just scared Cartman will try and kill them all or something. None of them deserved to be treated differently though, not even Kyle. Kyle needed to be in school. Kyle needed to be where I could observe him, even if it was only from a distance, where I could admire every subtle flick of his fiery hair and every look of concentration that graced his pale face.

Kyle needed to be with me.

I tried to avoid the redhead in the morning, trying to see if he would make an effort to come to me instead, but to my dismay, he stayed out of my way too. I still didn't understand what had happened during our phone call. I assumed that he had hung up before I had started talking and that's what he had been mumbling, but somewhere at the back of my mind I rejected that theory and decided that the redhead had heard what I'd had to say and hung up afterwards. I didn't want to believe that, but I couldn't help it.

By the time it got to lunch, I decided I had had enough. I was going to talk to Kyle and he was going to listen, whether he liked it or not. It would probably end in some major form of rejection and then a never-ending sea of ridicule and taunting from the assholes, but that didn't matter to me at all. If there was one small flicker of hope that the redhead may feel anything positive towards me, platonic or more, I was going to make the most of that. He seemed genuinely upset when I stopped talking to him for a while, and due to my not exactly full-of-spirit disposition most of the time, there must have been something he liked about me enough to stick around for the last few weeks, right?

I tried to find him as soon as lessons got out, but I was sidetracked by my friends calling me over to stay with them. I eventually ditched them, claiming I had an essay to finish and hoping they wouldn't pick up on the fact that I wouldn't give a crap if I had an unfinished essay, on this or on any other day, before quickly escaping and hurrying towards the hill I assumed Kyle would be under at that time. As I approached it, however, I was greeted not so enthusiastically by the assholes waiting at the very bottom of it.

"Where do you think you're going?" Stan elevated from his seated position on the chilled blades of grass, making his way to stand in front of me.

"To see Kyle," I spat angrily, not bothering to come up with some kind of excuse and just being generally irritated by the sight of him.

"Yeah, I don't think that's such a good idea," he took another step closer to me, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Why not? You don't fucking own him Marsh, he can see whoever he wants."

"He doesn't want to see you though. So fuck off."

"Yes, he does," I flipped him off and attempted to push past him, but he blocked my path, shoving me backwards forcefully so that I nearly tripped on the steeply lopsided surface.

"Get out of here, Craig," Cartman called out with a low chuckle, his body lounging in a relaxed position, his arms bent behind his head as he stared at the sky, before getting up and sauntering over to where I stood next to Stan, a small smug smile on his face.

I didn't want to argue with them, but that's what we ended up doing. I yelled loudly at them both and they returned with their own angry retorts, the echo of Stan and Cartman's bellowing voices getting louder as it travelled around the school grounds. Kenny wasn't even there, but I'm sure he would have been just as annoying in the situation if he actually had been present. All it meant was I had one less asshole to deal with right now.

"Why the _fuck_ is it that every time I see you guys together you're always fighting? Why can't you just get along for one _goddamn_ minute?" Kyle's shrill cry of frustration stopped us all immediately, our bodies twisting to face his.

As I saw his troubled expression staring at me, I froze. His eyes were wide and although we were all there arguing, it was me he was gazing at, his harsh glare causing a bolt of energy to shoot through me. Before I realized what I was doing, I felt my feet move from beneath me and start running. My mind was a blur at that moment, but before I knew it, I had pushed Cartman over so that he fell to the ground in an ungraceful thud with Stan instinctively running over to him as he rolled down the hill, giving me an opportunity to get to Kyle whilst they were distracted. I sprinted over to the small redhead, placing a firm grasp on his hand so he couldn't wriggle away and pulling him so that we were at the top of the tall hill, standing underneath the tree, its drooping branches creating a hood above us.

As we got to the top, I loosened my grip on his hand but still stayed attached whilst I gently moved his body so that he was facing towards me. I tried to take a step closer to him, but he took a step back. I took another and so did he. We continued to do that until his back collided with the trunk of the tree and he had no choice but to stay where he was as I placed both my hands on either side of his head, his petite body cowering beneath me.

"D-don't hurt me..." he appeared to glance down at his friends, who were still preoccupied, before gazing back at me, his eyes wide and genuinely filled with fear, but also there was a hint of curiosity.

"I would never hurt you, Kyle," I whispered unintentionally huskily into his ear, my throat a bit sore from the previous confrontation.

"But you would hurt my friends?" his voice was quiet, rife with anxiety.

"Kyle," I moved one of my hands so that it was placed lightly on top of his thin shoulder and I felt his body tense at the touch, "They aren't the same people you think they are. You deserve better..." I muttered as I continued to run my fingers along the bone, towards his collar bone and stopping as I reached the nape of his neck, resting my hand there, his flushed flesh held delicately in my touch.

"Craig..." he said my name in that hushed way that I'd decided I loved, the pronunciation elongated as his hot breath teased my cheek to pink slightly, "W-what's going on...?"

"I'm sorry Kyle," my raspy voice was as sincere as I could muster without choking, "For everything. I'm sorry. I want you to forgive me. I still want to be able to talk to you, I want to be able to see you, I want to be able to be next to you-"

"Motherfucker!" his two friends were charging up the hill, Stan leading as the other male made shorter strides behind him, "I told you not to go near him you fucking bastard!"

"What? Why?" Kyle frowned, peering around my overshadowing body but not moving.

"Because, Kahl, he's a dickhead who needs to learn how to take orders!" they reached the top and Cartman took it as his opportunity to return the shove I had given him by doing the same back to me. Whilst I lost my footing, he pulled Kyle away from me and pushed him in the direction of Stan like some kind of human pinball.

"I don't give a crap about you and your stupid games, asshole. I'll see who I want, when I want, you can't tell me what to do," I growled, taking a step towards him.

Cartman suddenly calmed down, his fists unclenching and his frown softening into a small smirk, "Is that so? Well I guess-" I saw his hand reach into his pocket to retrieve his cell phone, his fingers taping quickly and as I got a glimpse of what was on his screen, I saw a photo, a short message and a _very_ long list of recipients. He had obviously already had this message saved in his drafts or something, assuming this moment would be inevitable.

"Oh, _fuck_," I made a grab for it, but I was too late.

"Oops. I guess I do what I want to do, too," his grin widened as he pressed the send button, an evil glint in his eyes as I heard the faint buzz of cell phones from all over school start simultaneously beeping. It was unclear exactly how many people he had sent it to, but it didn't matter. Whether it was 10 or 100 people, it wouldn't take long for everyone to see it soon enough.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you, you fat piece of-" I yelled, launching myself in the direction of the fat ass, but I felt a strong grip on each of my wrists forcefully pulling me backwards.

It was Kyle, his eyes pleading as he pulled me in towards him, holding me away from doing something I'd probably end up regretting. His soothing touch caused a ripple of elation to spread throughout me, allowing my body to collapse into his grip. I felt his clutch tighten to support me enough to keep me upright and I let myself lean against him, enjoying this temporary act of kindness before he turned against me after seeing that stupid photo.

"Please... Please just stop fighting." he murmured into my ear apprehensively.

"You don't know what they've done yet, Kyle... What _I've_ done... You probably won't want to talk to me again... But I just want you to know that... I'm sorry."

I didn't wait to hear a response. I dragged myself out of the warmth of his arms and ran off down the hill, around the corner, through the main doors and towards the boys' bathroom. I entered one of the small cubicles, pulled the lid down and perched on the seat, my mind bursting with both everything and nothingness at the same time; so much seemed to be going on up there, but none of it was comprehensible enough for me to make something of it.

It was a rare occurence, but I was scared.

And so I should have been.

After staying holed up in the confined space for a while, I decided to leave because classes started in about five minutes. I tried to hurry though the corridors, hiding my face as much as possible by pulling my chullo further over my head, but it was in vain. Almost instantly I had people confronting me about it; some of them being really inquisitive and asking lots of random questions and others being less bothered about details and more bothered about just finding out who their new punching bag was going to be. Ignoring them, I felt the hard stares of people as I stormed through the crowds, me staring at the ground in front of me as I made my way through, my feet slamming hard against the tiled floor with each step.

As I slammed my locker closed violently, I felt the sudden shudder flow through the others whilst an eerily silence fell throughout the hallways, everyone stopping their whispers and chatters to stare at me. I flipped them all off and continued on my way, hoping I would be able to at least get through the next lessons I had before the end of the day without having to punch too many people in their faces. It wasn't just that everyone now knew about my feelings for Kyle that annoyed me so much, it was the fact that they all believed it so easily. Of all people to have sent it, it was Eric fucking Cartman, one of the most manipulative and deceitful people in all of South Park, but for some reason everyone just automatically assumed that it was all legit. I mean, I know it technically was, but he could have just as easily photo-shopped the picture by sticking my face on it, they didn't know. But I guess anyone will believe anything these days if it means you have someone's life to make a living hell.

"You don't believe this, do you? He would have told us if he was... you know... yeah...!" as I turned one corner, my ears pricked up as I heard a whiny voice coming from around the next corner, the voice of my best friend.

I ducked behind the wall, secretly listening in on their conversation and hoping nobody would walk past and blow my cover. They were obviously discussing me, but they would probably stop if they knew I was there.

"Well... he did say he had a secret he wasn't telling us when it was Tweek's birthday... it would make sense if that was it," Token stated.

"But... But... He would have told me! I'm sure of it!"

"Ngh! I-I think it is t-true, guys..." Tweek's quiet voice piped up, "I heard him on the phone to Kyle when he was in R-Russia... He was apologizing for something... But he sounded really e-emotional..." I didn't need to be able to see him to know he was shaking as he spoke.

"We should just ask him about it," Token suggested, sighing loudly.

"N-no! Because then if it's not true, he'll be angry at us! Jesus, he'll p-punch us and then won't t-talk to us for ages!"

"He's right... So what do we do then?" Clyde asked quietly.

"I don't know. He's in my next class, so I'll see if he mentions anything to me about it. We'll just have to bring it subtly," I heard them start to depart, their feet tapping as they moved in the opposite direction.

"B-but..." Clyde's voice sounded on the verge of choking as he spoke, "I'm sure he would have told me... We're bros..."

I felt a twang of guilt surge through me as I heard his voice wobble, as if he was on the brink of tears. Guilt isn't my thing, but lately it seemed like all I seemed to be doing was upsetting the people I felt closest to and it was starting to piss me off.

When I got to my class, Token was sitting waiting on the back row of desks, an empty one next to him for me to take. He was sitting with his arms crossed across his chest, a look of deep thought on his dark face. His gaze was cast in the direction of the window and so he didn't notice my entrance into the room. I quickly dodged other people who tried to stop me and made my way into the empty seat and sat there in silence for a while before he turned around and he became aware of me.

"Hey." I said monotonously, leaning back casually in my chair.

He looked at me curiously, obviously confused by my apathy, "Hi."

"What's up?" I was wondering how he would 'subtly' bring up the whole photo thing.

After staring at me blankly for a few more moments, he suddenly spoke, "Are you gay?"

"Ha, real subtle."

"Cut the crap, Craig. Are you or aren't you?"

Just as I opened my mouth to reply, I heard the low groan of our teacher as he walked into the room, slamming the door behind him and taking his seat at the front of the room. I gave Token a small shrug as if to say 'I want to reply but I can't' and turned back to face the front, but I noticed that when I did, most of the class was whispering and giggling and looking back at me before I shot them all an angry glare.

I saw Kyle at his desk, right at the front, huddled down scribbling away at his paper even though class hadn't really started yet. What the hell he thought he had to make notes on yet was beyond me. He only gave a quiet mumble when the teacher did the roll call, tucking whatever he had been writing into the pocket of his jacket. A few other students tried to grab his attention, but as with most lessons, he just ignored them, trying to focus on his work. Instead, his asshole friends replied back to the curious questions, most likely telling them more shit about me.

"Mister Tucker!" I heard my name being called out by the loud, angry voice of my teacher.

"WHAT?" I cried back, a bit too irritably; I was too busy getting annoyed at the sight of my peers.

"When I take the roll call I expect you to respond when your name is called, so stop daydreaming and pay attention."

"I don't give a fuck about your fucking roll call," I mumbled quietly to myself, but I forgot about my teacher's seemingly hawk-like hearing.

"What did you just say?" he glared at me, standing up from his seat and crossing his arms against his chest.

As I had practically reached my limit of self-control, I got up out of my seat and made my way to the front of the room, stepping in front of him so that we were on eye-level, glaring back, "I said: I don't give a _fuck_ about your _fucking_ roll call."

I heard some quiet 'ooh's and 'ah's from around the room, but I just flipped them off as I waited for a response from the man in front of me. I don't see why I waited; I knew what was going to happen anyway.

* * *

As I waited outside of the principal's office, I realized that the outcome of the situation was actually a pretty good one. Due to my many run ins with my teachers, I got sent to the principal quite a lot and I usually only got given a detention, but this time I was given a two day suspension. It had originally only been one day but I thought that that was unusually short so when I asked, 'Only one?' she thought I was being sarcastic and added on the extra day. Stupid bitch. But either way, I now had an excuse to miss school and stop myself from being plagued by gossip and rumors about Kyle, giving it a chance to die down a little.

Kyle. I had glimpsed at his face before I had left the classroom; he looked guilty, like he felt like it was his fault I was getting into trouble. It technically was, actually.

I didn't see the point in lying to the principal about what happened and so I straight away told her what I had said, but she didn't actually get angry. She instead spent more time trying to get into my head and understand why I was 'so angry with the world'. She spent a while asking me what I was upset about and what she could do to help, but when I responded with, 'Why the hell do you care, bitch?' she got annoyed and told me to get out and wait for my dad to come and get me.

Whilst I was waiting, I realized my dad was going to slaughter me when he got there. The last time I got into a fight at school (with Stan fucking Marsh unsurprisingly), he had had to come and get me and he had been really pissed off at me. He told me that if he had to come again he was going to kick me out of the house and leave me in the shed so that I knew what it was like to be a convict or some crap like that. The scary thing was that I wasn't even sure to what extent he was exaggerating.

I decided to run to my locker quickly just after everyone had made their way to their last classes of the day and the halls were clear, to get my books for homework and stuff for what now seemed to be my long weekend. It occurred to me that in Kyle's absence, I had actually done no homework that week whatsoever due to my lack of motivation; I was pretty surprised I hadn't been pulled up on it already. As I opened the heavy metal door, a small, perfectly folded piece of note paper came fluttering down to the ground by my feet. I bent down and opened it up apprehensively, hoping it wasn't some kind of threat for being a fag or whatever.

_Meet me at my house after school._

_Please. I really need to talk to you._

_-Kyle_

* * *

**A/N: What's going on peoples?**

**I've been getting some serious writer's block lately. I feel like whatever I write is shit and everyone's really OOC and I don't know how to fix it and then I try and rewrite it and it ends up being worse and it's just killing me because I want it to be so awesome and it's just like, not. ARGH. But no, I need to stop bitching because I do this all the time and it probably pisses you off to read. **

**Please leave a review and tell me what you think of this chapter; what you like, what you think could be improved, it would help me a lot ****J**

**So thanks for reading and all your continued support, I promise I'll try harder in the next chapter, I've just been working on this for so long and I want it to be perfect and it's just draining me a bit, so see you on the next update!**

**Also, Kyle's phone broke in like, Russia sometime after he had the conversation with Craig I guess. So he couldn't send him a message then or now. Haha, that's my crappy explanation of why he needed to use a note.**

**^.^ **

**XXX**


	22. The Swing in the Rain

Craig

"You were being fucking serious?" I cried in annoyance, slamming the door to my dad's car shut.

"Of course I was! I'm not taking any of your bullshit anymore, Craig," my father thrust a giant bin bag into my arms, packed full of pillows and blankets, "If you're going to act like a kid, I'm gonna treat you like one."

"That's more like a dog not a kid!"

"Well I don't give a damn, if you're not going to follow my rules, you're not staying under my roof!" he grabbed the collar of my jacket and pulled me towards the house, diverting from the front door to the gate leading into our back garden.

After unlocking the gateway, he continued to pull me towards the back of the garden until we reached the old, broken-down shed and pushed me towards it. The ground around it was sodden with snow and the wood of the shack had plants and weeds growing around it, the planks obviously rotting at an alarming rate if I was to be left to live in there for the foreseeable future.

"I am not sleeping in there!" I growled angrily, throwing the bag inside and attempting to push past my mountain of a father, but failing miserably.

"Well go and sleep on the damn street then!" he yelled back, letting go of me and storming off towards the direction of the house.

"You can't make me sleep out here, I'll tell mom and she'll let me in!"

"No she won't, I've already told her and there's nothing she can do to stop it," he chuckled deeply, "Consider yourself lucky, at least I'm letting you stay in my garden."

After that, he made his way inside, slamming the backdoor loudly and the faint sound of it being locked could be heard straight after. Was he seriously leaving me out here? I used the word 'fuck' to a teacher and so I get kicked out of my house? I knew my dad, just like every other parent in South Park, was crazy, but I didn't think he was _that_ crazy. I was going to fucking freeze out there, if I didn't get eaten or some wild animal first. And he just didn't seem to give a crap about that. He even laughed at it. Stupid prick.

I ran to the backdoor and banged on it loudly, screaming for someone to let me in. I heard the faint patter of footsteps and saw the swift shadow of a small body leave and go into the next room. Ruby wasn't home yet so it was obviously my mom. My own mother had sold me out. What a freaking bitch. Whatever, I didn't need her. I didn't need any of them. It didn't stop me from continuing to slam on the solid surface of the door for another five minutes though, a small part of me hoping that they thought leaving me for a few minutes would teach me a lesson and then they'd let me back in. But I had no such luck.

Eventually, I gave up and returned to the shed. I peered inside and saw a camp bed set out in the middle of the ground, surrounded by paint tins, rusty tools, my old bike and a load of other useless crap. I slumped down on it and felt it dip down violently, the springs inside of the mattress obviously broken. With a loud sigh I stretched across the small shack, reaching for the black bag of shit my father had given me. I pulled out the blanket and pillow, throwing it on my bed and continued to root around in it. I found all of my school books, a torch and some paper and lots of half used pens and crayons that I was probably supposed to occupy my free time with. How fucking considerate of him. I let out a loud groan as I threw my face down into the pillow, groaning into it to let out my frustration whilst punching at the mattress. The violent movement was obviously too much for the bed to handle as I felt it creak beneath my weight, however I ignored it and continued to lie there in rage. The cold chill of the air was making its way in through the broken door; its hinges busted so that the door hung lopsidedly and had a wide opening above it. If that wasn't bad enough, after a while of me nearly succeeding in calming myself down, another strong gust of wind blew inside, this time bringing splatters of rain with it.

"Goddamn it!" I flipped off no one in particular before looking back in the bag to see if there was anything I could use to patch up the hole.

There was nothing in the hoard of art supplies that could help and so I decided to empty the entire contents onto the floor and use the actual bag to cover the crack. Whilst tipping it upside down, I saw a scrap of paper fall out and I picked it up to see what it said. It was pretty hard to decipher the messy writing, but it read:

_'Maybe next time you'll learn to control yourself, kid.'_

"Argh!" I crumpled the note in my palm and threw it angrily at the wall, but it just bounced off lightly, falling into the cluttered mess on the boarded floor beneath me.

I threw myself back on 'my bed' and stared up at the moss covered ceiling, silently hoping that if I was going to die of pneumonia it would happen sooner rather than later. Why did all this stupid crap happen to me? I only wanted a normal life, was that so hard to ask?

There seemed to be more cracks in the roof, some with small droplets of the rain pouring in through them, dripping onto my body as I lay rigidly to avoid adding any more strain to the bed springs. I soon felt my eyes beginning to close, the dark of my eyelids blocking my vision of the splintered wood above me. Instead, my eyes were met with another pair, staring at me anxiously; a look of sadness dancing around on their emerald surfaces.

"Oh, shit."

* * *

Kyle

I already assumed he wasn't going to turn up. I tried to call him from someone else's phone at lunch, as soon as I got wind of what was going on after seeing that stupid photo Cartman had sent out to everyone, but his cell phone was off meaning that if I even texted him he wouldn't have gotten it anyway. I couldn't talk to him properly in class, so I decided I'd leave a note in his locker, but after he got sent to the principal's office, I wasn't sure if he would have been able to get it.

I wasn't sure if I wanted him to have seen it, though.

I wanted to talk to him, but I was pretty anxious about how the conversation would progress. Craig is a person who prefers to speak with actions rather than words most of the time and in his angry state of mind I didn't think any conversation we had would be too pleasant. It was obviously me, or something I had done, that had made him that way meaning my face had a pretty solid chance of getting punched.

But I needed to know what to think, what to believe. As 'the evidence' had come from Cartman, I automatically trusted that it was all bullshit. He's a manipulative asshole who just likes to make life harder for people, me especially. I didn't doubt for a second that it was all made up, him taking something normal and taking it completely out of context and then making everyone believe his twisted web of lies. I didn't even know why he had been anywhere near my house to take that photo in the first place, it had obviously been his plan to find some kind of way to embarrass Craig in front of everyone that day, as well as every other day. It was understandable that he would use anything to succeed in that mission. Despite that, however, it was hard to reject what he was saying due to the rest of the school all reiterating it to me, as well as a small part of me secretly hoping that it _was_ true.

So maybe that's weird, that I wanted another guy to have a crush on me, but I don't care. I didn't know why I enjoyed the thought, but it sent a blissful vibe throughout me, making me question myself. I always assumed that I was pretty much asexual, since going through puberty and being constantly surrounded by hormonal teenagers, I never really saw the appeal of dating and making out all day like the rest of the people my age, no matter what gender they were. Sure, I've kissed girls before, but that's mainly them coming to me and it being completely meaningless, lasting only a few seconds and me feeling absolutely nothing. It's another thing the guys rip on me for; even Cartman got swept up in the hormonal frenzies of high school, having had a few relationships before whilst Stan and Kenny jumped from girl to girl almost every other week. Stan's constantly tried to get me to go on double dates with him, but I've just not been into it, using school work as an excuse to not go with them. But the situation with Craig was different; he didn't seem like the kind of person who spent most of his free time on dates and trying to get off with people. In fact, I didn't remember ever seeing him with a girlfriend. Or boyfriend, for that matter. It just made me feel kind of special, like there was something different that attracted him specifically to me, even though I didn't really see what it was. I couldn't help but be secretly excited at the thought, but I wasn't sure if that was because I was just flattered or because somewhere deep down I thought something might become of it. If it was all true, that is.

I sat on the front step of my house waiting for about an hour, book in hand to stop me from getting bored, until I gave up expecting him to come. I made my way around to the back of my house, perching on the old swing with a loud sigh. I gently rocked myself back and forth, pushing with the balls of my feet as they stayed held closely to the ground. Sitting on the swing reminded me of my childhood, when my friends would come over and we would play outside for hours on end, laughing, joking and having nothing to worry or care about besides having as much fun as possible. I missed those days, all the crazy adventures we used to get up to, all the cool things we used to see and do. Granted, we still did have 'crazy adventures', but they were a lot less fun than they used to be when you know you have other priorities instead.

Reaching into my pocket, I took out my iPod and started blaring the music out as loud as it would go, before placing it back in there, using it to distract my over active mind. I shut my eyes, continuing to swing back and forth, my thrusts getting more powerful as I pushed myself further into the air, further away from all the confusion, all the drama, all the crazy shit that seems to always weave its way into my life. I felt the soft patter of rain beginning to fall, hitting against my skin softly as I continued to soar through the air mindlessly, the harshness of the downpour becoming increasingly intense as time went by. The wind blew strongly against my face and my body, aiding in my efforts to get closer to the slate clouds throwing needles down at me.

"Having fun?" I heard a raspy and out of breath voice ask, and certain that it was in my imagination, I continued to swing higher with a small frown, trying to sidetrack the thought that I was now going crazy.

Moments later I felt one of the ropes of the swing being pulled forcefully, rocking me violently for a moment before I was gently grinded to a halt. I slowly opened my eyes, attempting to blink the excess water away to see the blurred vision of the person in front of me.

"Craig…?" I asked in the midst of my daze, still trying to focus my vision.

"Yeah. Sorry I'm so late," I could see his tall figure stood in front of me, one arm still clutching to the rope of the swing, the other pushed into his pocket, "I heard your music so I assumed you were back here."

His wet hair clung to his forehead, his hat drenched along with the rest of his clothes. He stayed staring at me for a while, his dark eyes peering into mine carefully whilst the rest of his face was smoothed into its usual blank expression.

"How much trouble did you get into with the principal?" I eventually asked quietly, still gazing up at him as he continued to watch me below him.

"Two day suspension," he shrugged casually, as if it was no big deal to him, before glancing behind me, "You're shed is a lot nicer than mine."

"What?" I failed to understand the sudden change in topic and attempted to divert it back, "Was it because of the rumor Cartman was telling everybody? Is that why you were so upset? Because-"

"Upset? Who said I was upset?" he slowly started pulling and pushing the rope he was holding, causing me to rock gently on the wooden seat.

"Well you definitely weren't happy…"

"What did I have to be happy about at that time? What do I have to be happy about now? But the opposite of happy isn't upset, Kyle," he frowned deeply, but continued to rock the swing, the power becoming more forceful, the look on his face becoming increasingly intense.

I really wanted to get off, he was starting to scare the shit out of me, but I was too afraid to say anything and so I let him continue, feeling the gusts of wind engulf me and the rain persisting to beat down on me whilst all I could do was hold on tightly and hope he wasn't going to throw me off of it. His face was still frowning, but it softened slightly as he looked at me, obviously noting my sense of anxiety.

"Is that all you wanted to ask?" he uttered gruffly, his eyes still peering at me.

"I wanted to know what the photo… meant. I mean, it's just Cartman's usual bullshit…right? I'm sure it was all just a misunderstanding and-"

He let out a short, angry chuckle, his eyes averted so that they were now staring at the ground, his arm still moving back and forth to move the rope, and me along with it, "A misunderstanding? If that's what you want to call it, then fine. It was a misunderstanding."

"Well, what was it then?"

"It was your asshole friends being the assholes they are," his arms suddenly stopped, his hand releasing the swing and letting me stop myself from wavering as he took a few steps away from me, still finding the ground beneath him fascinating.

I quickly got up from the seat, positioning myself so that I was in his line of vision, "Craig…" I saw a small smile reach his lips for a split second before I continued, "Just tell me, dude. Is… Is it true?"

His hand moved forward and for a second I thought he was going to hit me, causing me to flinch back in fear, but I saw him frown again as his finger calmly removed a few of my long copper curls from my eyes, moving it the side as he continued to watch my eyes. His hand gently caressed my damp skin, tracing my cheek and jaw bone with his touch, causing a chill to be sent through my body. I felt my face begin to heat up, burning red as I closed my eyes, avoiding meeting his gaze.

I sensed him step closer to me, his hand still lingering on my neck as I stood stiffly in his hold, my arms dangling at my sides, "So… does this… mean it _is_ true…?"

I heard him mumble something indecipherable as he moved another stray curl from my forehead. It was freezing cold out there, but his touch was incredibly warm, his straying fingers leaving a trail of heat along the icy skin of my collarbone. I reacted to the contact, each gentle stroke resulting in a subtle flinch on my part and a quiet exhale on his.

Taking another step closer towards me so that we were only a few centimeters from our chests touching each others, I heard him breathily ask, "Do you want me to stop?"

After a moment of silence, I slowly shook my head, keeping my eyes tightly shut as I felt my face burn even more intensely. I felt the tender grip of his fingers curl around my flushed neck as his face bent closer to mine, his warm breath teasing my skin as it made contact. I breathed in his musky scent as he lingered in front of me, the proximity minimal. His nose brushed against mine and I felt a jolt of energy surge through me, my body releasing the tension I had been storing and allowing me to melt into his hold, standing on the tips of my toes, my thin frame leaning against his muscular one.

Soft and gentle, pushing tenderly against mine, I suddenly felt the tender sense of his lips. It was nothing like I'd expected it to be like, and nothing like I had experienced before. I thought it would be rough, his lips feeling more like they were forcing themselves on me, but instead it was chaste, no force, no roughness, just a warm tingle of bliss whilst the rain continued to drizzle above us. It lasted mere seconds before he pulled away, the hand around my neck tightening and his other arm snaking its way around my hips, pulling me closer to him.

I took the pause as a chance to open my eyes, staring through small slits to realize his own eyes were closed, his lips moving subtly whilst he muttered something to himself. Although his hold was still firm, I was sure I could feel him trembling slightly, although I wasn't sure if that was because of the weather or the situation. I was also pretty shaky myself and so I held my body closer to his, using his as a sense of support for my own as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"It wasn't a lie…" he mumbled, tilting my chin upwards and pressing his lips against mine again.

My heartbeat was fast as it beat rhythmically in my chest, vibrating against him as he did the same back. Breaths were short as we continued, our lips pressed together in the heart of my backyard, but I noticed that the frown that had been on his face earlier seemed to be appearing again and I could tell there was something wrong, "What's wrong? What did I do?" it was my automatic reaction to wonder whether it was my fault; maybe it hadn't been what he had been expecting, maybe he didn't feel as elated as I did, maybe he realized that I actually wasn't good enough for him.

After a while, I heard him whisper quietly, his azure eyes fixed on mine for a few moments, before looking upwards with a sigh, "So what happens now?"

"What?" now assuming he was actually referring to the heavy downpour above us, I responded, "We can go inside, I guess… but we'll have to avoid-"

"No. I mean, after today. Tomorrow, the day after, what's supposed to happen?" he was still staring at the sky, looking like he was expecting some kind of answers to come down along with each rain droplet that was hitting his face.

"I-I…" I hadn't really thought about it, I had barely been concentrating on what was actually going on at all, focusing purely on enjoying the experience.

"Kyle," he reached for my hands that were still wound around his neck, pulled them down and held them in his, "No one's going to accept this. You've already seen how people reacted to just that stupid photo, if word of… this," he glanced at our joined hands and then back to my eyes, offering a faint smile, "…got out, well…" his voice trailed off and he sighed again quietly.

"We can keep it secret then, nobody has to know," that seemed like a better idea anyway; letting people know about it would cause more hassle and drama than he was willing to be a part of.

"I can't keep having secrets. They already made me nearly lose both you and my friends already; I can't keep doing it. And it's not just me it would be affecting… I don't want you to get caught up in drama you don't need to be in if people do find out," he had seemingly read my mind, although he could probably just tell by my facial expression what I was thinking. My ability to keep my emotions in order were nowhere near the skill he had.

"But… But… You can't just kiss me and then pretend like nothing happened Craig!" I pleaded heatedly, gripping his hands tighter.

"Kyle, I don't want to hurt you…" as the words passed his lips, I got a flash of Kenny inside my head, reliving the conversation we had whilst we were in the car in Russia, fearing the inevitable 'but' that was coming next, "But I know that if we carried on anything between us, it would hurt you even more."

"You said you'd never fucking hurt me!" I felt myself getting angrier and more upset at his proposal, and even more so at the composed state in which he was presenting it; it felt like he was breaking up with me, although we weren't even dating each other.

"It's the lesser of two evils, Kyle," he gave my hands a squeeze before proceeding to wrap his arms around my shoulders and hug me closely, mumbling quietly, although I wasn't sure if it was to me or to himself, "I really don't want to do this, but I don't have the choice."

"You have the fucking choice, Craig!" I muttered angrily into his chest.

I felt his soft lips press gently against my wet forehead, his hold around me loosening, "I don't want to lose you as a friend, Kyle."

Forcefully, I pushed him away from me, hugging my own body in replacement for the lost body heat, "Get the hell away from me, Craig," I growled.

"Kyle, don't be like this."

"Why? That's a load of fucking bullshit! You can't just leave things like this! What the fuck is wrong with you!" I felt my blood begin to boil, my temper getting the best of me. Damn hormones, there was a reason I avoided them, and this is one of the reasons why. Now they'd begun to surface, there seemed to be no way I could control them anymore.

After a quiet sigh, he stopped and looked me in the eyes, "Bye, Kyle," he attempted to reach for my hand, but I quickly whipped it away, turning my body as I heard him sigh again loudly behind me before he walked away and departed my garden.

As for me, I was left there, in the downpour, my clothes soaked, my head confused and my heart in two separate places. I wanted to hate Craig for doing that to me and then leaving like it was nothing, but I couldn't. That kiss had been exhilarating, breathtaking, something I wanted to be able to do again and again, maybe no matter the heart ache.

But in that moment I chose to be angry. I chose to follow my temper over my logical reasoning. And so I called the first person I could think of to help me make things better again.

* * *

**A/N: Hello! Guess who's feeling a bit better now? Me! ^.^**

**OMG asdfghjklasdfghjklasdfghjklm otherfuckingbarbarastreisand asdfghjkl THEY KISSED.**

**FUCK.**

**AND THEN THEY SORT-OF BROKE UP STRAIGHT AFTER.**

**DOUBLE FUCK.**

**Sorry X_X**

***Don't shoot me please I apologize***

**IT WILL GET BETTER EVENTUALLY I PROMISE YOU, OKAY?**

**If Matt and Trey can be trolls in the show and can mess with my feels every damn episode, then so can I. That is my logic and my reasoning.**

**The next chapter -hopefully- shouldn't take to long though. **

**I think that's all I have to say…**

**Oh, that and Craig's dad's a fucking crazy asshole.**

**Please review this chapter, because like wow if you have nothing to say about them finally fucking kissing each other then I must be doing a crap job at keeping you aboard this ship. Also, we're nearly at another milestone and it's due to all your amazing reviews so far that have made that possible so thank you so much!**

**Thanks for reading as always, I really appreciate it! (also thank you for all the general nice messages people have left, you're all so lovely.)**

**^.^**

**XXX**


	23. The Conformist

Kyle

I sat in the warm midst of the room, my fingers wrapped delicately around the hot mug I had been given. As I took a sip, I felt the boiling liquid travel through my throat and enter my body, sending a sense of warmth throughout me as I shuffled around in my place, trying to get more comfortable. My gaze was cast out of the large window, staring at the sunset sky, the oranges and purples blending pleasingly across the broad canvas. The warm glow of the sun was beginning to fade as the silvery glimmer of the early moon began to make its way higher into the sky, the outside world quiet and asleep, glistening from the previous rain shower.

I let out a quiet sigh, returning my attention to the beverage in front of me. Just as I went to take another sip, I saw my friend enter the room, his hands carefully clutching to his own drink. He positioned himself so that he was sitting across from me in the booth, his full attention focused on what I was saying. It was late, so we were the only two in the store meaning there was nothing else we had to worry about. I could see his body trembling as I told him the story of what had happened, his head jerking everytime my voice rose in anger or annoyance, causing me to realize my frustration and calm myself down a bit. He was listening intently, his eyes wide and his hold on his mug tense.

"S-So... It's t-true? H-He really does l-like you?" Tweek eventually responded, to which I shrugged my shoulders with a frown, placing my drink down and burying my head in my crossed arms on the table top, "But w-why did he just l-leave you there?"

"He said some bullshit about it not being accepted and not wanting to keep secrets and loads of other stuff which was basically him rejecting me..." I mumbled into the counter.

"Do you like him back? W-what are you going to- Gah!-" Just as he started talking a shrill bell could be heard, the ring signifying somebody entering the shop.

My head lifted up slowly to see another teenager stroll into the shop, his eyes cast downwards and his bangs hanging low in his face. He was seemed mysterious, with his dark clothing contrasting significantly with his clear yet still dark grey eyes and the bright red roots of his otherwise jet black hair. A thin cigarette was held between his fingers, being tapped on repeatedly before he pulled it up to his pale lips, took a long drag and then stubbed it out and threw it in the trash.

"Oh h-hey Dylan..." Tweek muttered quickly before jumping out of his seat and disappearing behind the front counter and to the coffee machine at the back of the shop, "D-do you want your u-usual?"

"Yep, black," he growled, his voice rasp but surprisingly not that deep.

He disappeared into one of the other booths, hidden away from my curious gaze. I could hear his quiet humming as he let out a few throaty coughs and waited for his coffee. Dylan was one of the goth kids who spent most of his time seemingly depressed about life and spent most of their time hanging around at the back of the bleachers on the school football field, far away from the rest of the students of the school so that they could keep to themselves. They weren't people I associated with or knew very well, mainly because they usually scared the shit out of me.

I watched as Tweek's jittery fingers tapped at the coffee machine and he waited impatiently for it to be made. He beckoned me silently, ushering me over to him with a shaky hand.

"C-can you bring this over to Dylan?"

"Me? Why should I do it?" I stubbornly replied, not particularly wanting to make any contact with with him in any way.

"Because he kind of s-scares me... plus it's actually your j-job!" he raised his eyebrow at me, his neck jerking as he twitched.

"Oh yeah..." I mumbled, taking the drink reluctantly; I had completely forgotten about that.

Carefully I carried it over to the boy, trying not to spill any as I did so. I placed it tentatively on the table in front of him and he stared at it, looked up at me, back at the coffee and then back to me again.

"You're not my usual server," I just shrugged as I stood there irritably, itching to get back to my own comfortable booth, "Where's Twitch gone?"

"Tweek...?" I glanced at the blonde, peering at me from a distance, "He's back there. Why, is there something you need...?" I took a few steps backwards, hoping to get away from him and let Tweek deal with him instead.

"No."

"Oh. Okay," I quickly turned to walk away with a quirk of my brow but I was suddenly called back before I had a chance to get far enough away.

"Hey, you. Broflovski. Sit down."

"What, why?"I faced him and saw his head nod towards the seat opposite him.

Warily I took the seat, wondering what it was that he wanted. I didn't even know he knew who I was; I didn't understand why he'd want to talk to me. He stared at me for a moment, his smoky eyes examining me closely as I squirmed nervously under the inspection. The moment reminded me of the last time I had been in Harbucks; Tweek's birthday, when Clyde and Token had spent a while just staring at me with annoyance and I seemingly had no choice but to let them do it.

"What do you want?" I finally snapped, tired and annoyed by the day's happenings, lacking much patience.

He let out a short chuckle, took a sip of his coffee and leaned back in his chair, continuing to watch me, "How's Raven lately?"

"Raven?"

"Marsh."

"Oh, er, fine, I guess?" I didn't understand what he was getting at.

"Hmm," he took another sip of his drink staring at me over the rim of the mug, his clear eyes peering into mine like daggers, "And you're meant to be friends, right?"

What did he mean by 'Meant to be'? "Best friends, actually."

Another sharp chortle left his lips whilst his dark orbs rolled, "Best friends- just another term for eventual regret and disappointment, especially with a guy like Raven."

"What? What do you mean, 'a guy like Raven'?"

"A guy like him; one of the 'popular' people, or a more accurate representation, a fucking conformist. That jock is the biggest conformist of them all, actually, doing everything and anything to mould into what he thinks is 'cool', and everyone else just follows him, like lost puppy dogs, their hearts aching for his affection from him. Metaphorically, of course."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I retorted, defensive of the way he was portraying Stan, "That doesn't even make sense you dipshit; he can't be a leader and a conformist."

"See, that's where you're wrong. He gets people to follow him, but he himself follows society. It's a vicious cycle, dude. And you. You follow him around everywhere, do what he says and tag along with all his conformist shit, making you just another one of his lost puppies," I glared at him, wondering why he was saying all this and as if he read my mind, he responded, still with a smirk on his face, "What I'm saying is, you need to stop being a puppy. Raven would easily drop you as his 'best friend' if you didn't go along with him and what he wanted to do. You can try and deny it all you want, but you know it's true. That's why you do. That's why you let him dictate what you can and can't do. That's why you let him make you his metaphorical bitch-"

"Just shut the fuck up, dude," I slammed my hand down on the table, causing it to tremble and a few drips of his coffee to splash out onto the previously clean surface, starting to get angrier, "I don't let Stan dictate what I do, I make my own decisions, and they've got nothing to do with him. I don't know where you've got that stupid idea or what you're trying to achieve by saying all of this to me, but I really don't want to know. Is that all you wanted because I have much better things to do than sit here and listen to you say shit about me."

He stayed silent as he stared at the small coffee droplets on the table, wiping at them with a crumpled tissue from his pocket. Picking the mug back up, he took a long sip, once again watching me from over the rim of it. At this point I was extremely irritated and wanted to shove the hot drink all over his head, but instead I kept relatively cool and waited impatiently to see what else he had to say to basically insult me.

"I saw the picture. You know, the one with you and that Tucker kid," I felt my eyes widen at the utterance, but I quickly returned to the scowl I had been previously giving him, "If Raven was really your friend he would have stopped the fat boy from sending it to everyone and would just let you do whatever the fuck you want to do."

It was my turn to stay silent in response, actually considering what he had just said. He had a point, Stan might not like Craig, but I thought he would have at least had the decency and the morals to not let Cartman 'out' him to the entire school. But obviously I was wrong. And as well as that, Stan really was trying to tell me what I could and couldn't do, telling me who I could and couldn't hang out with. And I was letting him. I was just going along with it.

"Oh shit..." I mumbled quietly to myself.

"Yeah, 'oh shit'."

"But... I don't always do what he says..." I was more trying to justify it to myself than to Dylan, "I mean, I don't go along with his stupid revenge plots, and I'm here now, even though he wouldn't be happy about that..."

"But you don't attempt to stop them, and I bet he doesn't know you're here. And you're going to keep it that way, right?" before I could respond, he did it for me, "Right. Because you're just another conformist."

Our eyes met, his light grey ones meeting my glaring green ones as I tried to come up with a response. But I couldn't. Letting out an annoyed sigh, I stood up and left the booth silently, ignoring the smug smirk that had made his way to his face. I shot a quick goodbye wave at Tweek and thrust open the door before he could stop me, being engulfed in the cool night air as I pushed my hands into my jacket pockets and quickly walked home, thoughts whirling around my head. Well that had been a pretty shit endeavour. Now I just felt even worse about the entire situation.

I felt like I had no one. I was starting to doubt how solid my friendship was with Stan; would he really ditch me if I told him he couldn't stop me from being friends with Craig? I wasn't sure. But it didn't really matter, because Craig didn't want me now anyway. Well, he said we could be friends, but I didn't think I could hang around him and pretend nothing had happened. Because it had, there was no denying that.

"Kyle?" my head jerked upwards away from the concrete to the sound of a distant voice, "Ky, come here!"

"Kenny?" I saw a tall figure running towards me, his body clad in an old orange parka, his head covered by its matted fur hood.

"Hey, dude," he came to a stop next to me, blocking my path so I couldn't walk past him, his face showing slight concern as he caught sight of mine, "Are you alright? Why are you out so late?"

I glanced at my watch, "It's not that late."

"It is for you."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" I unintentionally snapped, not realizing how harshly it came out until it was too late, but it didn't stop me from continuing to be annoyed.

He took a step away from me, obviously taken aback by my irritable tone as he peered at me curiously, "Dude, seriously, what's wrong?" before placing his hand on my shoulder and bending down slightly to try and look into my eyes.

"Everything!" I growled, pushing past him and carrying on with my journey home.

I heard the patter of feet as he followed behind me, pulling on my arm so that I twisted to face him, "Kyle, be more specific. I can help you with whatever it is, dude, or I can at least try. Just tell me what it is."

"Why? Why should I do what you tell me to do? You think you know everything, Kenny, but you don't," his eyes widened in shock as he presumably saw the anger in my face, "You don't know what's fucking best for me; not you, not Cartman, and not Stan, so just leave me _alone_."

I yanked my arm away from his grasp and ran off down the street, not prepared to get any further into that conversation, leaving the lanky blonde there in confusion of what had just happened; I was pretty confused myself, but I suddenly heard him yell out, "I told you, you were going to get hurt if you didn't leave Craig alone, Ky, and you didn't listen to me! I told you!"

"Just fuck off, Kenny!" I shouted back before turning the corner so that he was no longer in sight.

My blood was beginning to boil again; the anger inside me surfacing as I mentally spoke to myself, almost every other word being a curse word. I was seriously pissed off. I couldn't believe that one of the guys I considered to be one of my closest friends was rubbing my face in the fact that I had basically been screwed over by the entire situation. Okay, so granted he may have warned me, but he gave no justification for me to have to listen to him. And okay, so I might have snapped at him just then, but he should have known I was just upset and instead of shouting back he should have, I dunno, comforted me or something. Whatever, it didn't matter, he was an asshole. I didn't want his fucking pity.

My eyes prickled as I continued down the street, realizing that at this point, I really did have no one. Maybe I had had Kenny before, but after that little incident, I doubted he would listen if I came crawling back- which I had no intention to.

But there was Cartman. There was that fat prick that no matter how much shit I threw his way, he would always be there. I didn't usually want him there, but he always was, even if it was to only make life harder for me. I surprisingly found a bit of comfort in that, even if it was a bit unusual; at least there was one thing I could count on to stay the same whilst everything else around me seemed to spiral out of my control.

But I couldn't go to him with my problems, especially not these ones. This was all his fault anyway, he was the one that sent that stupid picture and caused all the additional tension and madness. And there was also the bet thing that I had to try and avoid ever coming up for as long as possible. But maybe I _should_ have gone to him, shouted at him and blamed him for everything. I had perfectly good reason to, I mean, he really was the one to blame for everything. But I didn't, instead I did what I was going to do in the first place and made my way back home, alone, to try to escape to my books and indulge myself in the life of fictional characters to distract myself from all the stupid, annoying, crazy drama in my own life.

* * *

**A/N: Hey there, fellas!**

**Goddamnit, this is getting really fucking depressing actually. Like, seriously. **

**In the first few paragraphs I was trying to be all descriptive and shit like the really good writers, but then I was getting bored because I couldn't really do it properly so I was just like, 'Fuck it, dialogueeee.'**

**Dylan. He's a total nonconformist badass (that I don't know how to write well but I had to stick him in there because, like, yeah I love him.) **

**Kyle went to Tweek because like, those two were becoming pretty good friends, plus they always go to each other when there is drama within their groups and this is kind of like one of those times. Like I can imagine them always coming and drinking coffee in the later hours of the night when it's not likely that any of their friends will catch them together. Also, Kyle wants someone who can help him get inside Craig's head and understand what just happened, too. So that is the explanation of that.**

**Kyle's a freaking ticking time bomb though- I think he's got too much sand in his vagina. **

**This was an all Kyle chapter, the next will probably be either all, or mostly, Craig. Just in case you were wanting to know when we'd hear Craig's side of the story.**

**Also, I um, made this poll thing on my page. I don't know if many people will do it, but I made it out of both curiosity and for future reference for myself so if you can spare a few seconds to go and answer it I would be really grateful. Also, any reviews you have too are also welcome, so don't be scared to leave a little comment! **

**Later, guys.**

**^.^**

**XXX**


	24. The Choice

A/N: Guys, I totally screwed up. I essentially had a full chapter before this one, with Kyle at school and stuff, but then every time I attempted to write it, it was totally boring and annoying and I feel like I'm just lacking any motivation at all lately actually because I dunno it just seems like the general interest for this story has dropped. So I gave up. So this chapter is basically 24 hours after where the last chapter left off, I'll try to fill in the gaps, but yeah, don't get confused by the awkward timing.

* * *

Craig

I felt a cold hand brush my skin as I lay sprawled out awkwardly on the camp bed in the middle of the wooden shack. The touch was soft, gently rocking me as I flinched away with a quiet grunt.

"Craig..." I heard a voice say my name, but I wasn't really able to focus on who it was, my body slowly turning to face them, "Craig, wake up... seriously, Craig, get up..."

I was only semi-conscious as I awoke from my nap, but I could still sense the apprehension of the person who was trying so hard to wake me up. Just as I was about to make an attempt to work out who it was, I felt a hard hand slap across my cheeks forcefully.

"Craig, wake up you fucking ass!"

"Ow, what the fuck!" I yelled sleepily, adjusting my eyes to see who was standing there.

It was Ruby, her brows furrowed and her arms crossed against her chest. She was glancing around nervously as she stood there, her fingers drumming on her arm. I could see a sense of anxiousness in her eyes so after I yawned loudly and sat up straight, I beckoned her towards me, wondering what was making her so jittery.

I was just about to open my mouth again before I felt her hand slap me again, "Ruby, stop! What the fuck is wrong with you, you stupid bitch! What the hell do you want?"

"You're an asshole! Dad's going to kill me if he finds out I keep sneaking down here!" she hissed quietly, glaring at me.

"Then why are you here? I haven't asked you to get me anything." I flipped her off; annoyed she had woke me up for no apparent reason.

"Kyle's here," she pointed behind her, "He said needs to talk to you or something and wouldn't take 'no' as an answer..." she glanced back before addressing him nervously, with a slight frown, "But I need to go back to the house. I am not risking dad finding me out here, especially whilst you're here, that'd make it even worse if he knew I let you in... So just hurry up, okay?"

She quickly retreated, leaving me to see the small redhead cowering behind her. I had done some D.I.Y so that I now had the torch hanging from a rope in the centre of the ceiling of the shack, although the lighting was dim and I couldn't quite make his face out properly from where I was sitting.

Slowly I got up, walking over to where he was stood next to the door, unmoving, his gaze fixed on the ground beneath him, "Kyle?"

As soon as I said his name, he burst into tears. And not just normal tears, it was like Niagara Falls was trying to escape his eye sockets. They fell quickly down his cheeks as he tried to gasp for breath, seeming like he was about to choke every few moments. For a couple seconds I just stood and watched him in silence, not sure of how I should react. He was hugging his body whilst he shook violently, clutching at his arms as the tears continue to stream.

"What the hell?" I took a few steps closer to him and he fell against my chest, sobbing loudly into my collarbone as I pulled him into me, embracing his small body gently, "Why the fuck are you crying? What happened?"

Although he was still crying, he stopped making so much noise as I rocked him from side to side soothingly, trying to calm him down a little. After he caught his breath back, he looked up at me, his sad eyes filled to the brim with tears as he stared into mine. He looked like he was trying to tell me something, his mouth was opening and closing, but no sound came out and he just dropped his head back into my chest and continued to sob silently.

I was growing more concerned as to why he was so distressed; I'd never seen him like this before. Sure, I'd seen him somewhat sad, and I'd definitely seen him angry, but this was nothing like how I'd ever seen him react to something.

"Kyle, tell me what's wrong," I detached him from my body for a moment, holding him at arm's length and bending down so that I was at eyelevel with him.

"I-I..." he tried to speak, but his voice kept getting caught in his throat as he choked through the tears, "H-he..."

"He? Who is 'he'?" I could hear the anxiety in my own voice as I peered into the eyes in front of me, fixed on the floor and avoiding my gaze.

After a few moments of more silent sobbing, he mumbled quietly, "S-Stan..."

"That fucking asshole...!" at the mention of his name, I felt a sudden bolt of rage surge through me and I let go of Kyle, punching the wall of the shed furiously.

It would have something to do with him, right? I should have guessed. At that moment, I promised myself that the next time I saw Marsh I was going to punch his fucking teeth in, even if that meant I ended living in my shed for the foreseeable future. I didn't know what he had done, but he couldn't get away with whatever he did if it was making Kyle react like this. Even though I didn't know what happened, Kyle was tough. He might be small but he's feisty and isn't easily broken. But here he was, broken into about a million pieces right there in front of me. And whatever it was, it was all Stan's fault.

I was still muttering obscenities under my breath as I turned away from the wall and saw the redhead staring at me, grief and fear in the giant green eyes that I had become so accustomed to over the time we'd spent together, "I-I didn't know who else to come to..."

I went back to embracing him in my arms as he continued to tremble slightly, my hands still balled into fists. After leading him over to my bed, I let him sit between my legs as I sat with mine outstretched, his body curled up against my own. I could hear his shaky breathing as he recovered from his uncharacteristic burst of emotion whilst I snaked my arms so that they were wrapped around his waist from behind.

"I'm sorry..." he eventually whispered up to me, his hat now in his lap as he clung to it, his fingers digging into the material firmly.

"For what?" I mumbled into the head of curls I was leaning my head on; it was nice, like a really fluffy pillow.

"For coming here. I know you could get in a lot of trouble and I know you don't want me here-"

"What? Of course I want you here," I took his chin in one of my hands, delicately tipping it up to face me, gazing into his eyes; they were still glistening from the previous tears, but he was calm enough to hold anymore from pouring out.

"But yesterday..." he met my stare, his eyes fixed on mine.

"I didn't say I didn't want you, Kyle. I said I thought it would be for the best if..." I didn't really want to finish the sentence; I knew neither of us really wanted to relieve the memory of that conversation. The actions, sure, but not the conversation that followed afterwards, "Just tell me what fucking happened."

"Stan made me choose..." he whispered quietly, his hushed voice barely audible over his heavy breathing, "He told me that I had to choose whether I wanted to be friends with them or with you..."

I immediately let go of his chin, feeling my fists begin to clench and my anger beginning to boil up again. Goddamn it, Stan really was a fucking asshole. I shuffled backwards on the bed so I had enough space to swing my legs off the side of it, leaning my head on my fists. He had no fucking right to make Kyle make that decision, it was obvious that he was going to choose them over me.

"So why don't they have you under lock and key, making sure you don't come within five miles of me?" I growled angrily.

"Because..." his voice was still shaky as he repositioned himself after being let out of my hold, again clutching at his own body to replace my arms being removed, "Because... I didn't choose them."

I lifted my head back up, turning my body so that I was looking straight into his eyes. They were genuine and sincere, but something inside my head wouldn't let me believe him. He had got to be joking, right? There was no way Kyle had sold his lifelong friends out for a dick like me. All I had done was hurt him and make his life unnecessarily hard to bear; I couldn't let myself believe that he had forgotten all about that and chose me over them. I wanted to believe that, I really did. But I couldn't.

"So... you chose... neither?"

The look he gave me after that comment was a mixture of annoyance and exhaustion, which I guess was relevant; it was a pretty stupid statement and probably thought I was retarded for asking it, but I was still doubtful of what he was implying, no matter how convincing he seemed to be.

"So, what did you choose then?"

His brows knitted in irritation, "I chose you, you fucking retard!" Yeah, see, I knew that he thought I was a retard. His head dropped into his hands with a loud sigh, "...Sorry. I'm a bit on edge lately..."

"But why did you...choose _me_?" It felt weird just saying it, let alone accepting it to be true.

"Because I realized you were right. My 'friends' are all assholes and I couldn't be bothered to put up with their bullshit anymore," he stopped for a moment before carrying on in a much more hushed tone, "And... I like hanging out with you. I actually feel like you give a shit about what I say and I'm not just there for the sake of it, not just because that's how it's always been. When I'm with you... I'm happy. And I don't see why I should have to sacrifice that for three people that say they want the best for me but really only care about themselves and their own reputations."

I sat there blinking at him with a blank face, dumbfounded by his 'confession'. I was still quizzically looking into his eyes as I saw him slowly lean closer to me and then his lips press softly against mine. It only lasted a few seconds before he pulled away, his face sheepish as he begun to burn red, but with a small hopeful smile on his lips as his eyes avoided mine.

I got up off of the bed and peered out of the shed door, making damn sure that nobody was going to come and interrupt us in some way. As I turned back around, I saw Kyle had gotten up too, looking slightly apologetic, probably curious to know why I had moved, thinking I was about to leave or something.

"Craig..." Shit. Just the way he said my name. I just couldn't control the smile that made its way onto my face.

And then I couldn't take any of it anymore. All my self-restraint, all my doubts, all my thoughts about everything except for that moment got thrown straight out of the window. Kyle was mine. All mine. And I had to take advantage of the amazing situation that had been thrown my way.

Pressing a finger to his lips, I hushed him, "Shh," taking my hand and pushing a few of his stray copper curls out of his face, I smiled, "Everything's going to be okay; you make me happy too."

* * *

Kyle

Before I could fully comprehend what was happening, he pulled my body close against his, continuing to huskily mutter something undecipherable into my ear, his warm breath tickling me, causing the hair on my neck to stand up. His touch was gentle but firm as he gripped at my waist, causing my body to fall against his as he moved against me, his teeth now nipping at my ear. I shuddered slightly as he blew a cool breath along my skin, lightly kissing along my jaw line until he reached my chin. His large hands made their way underneath my t-shirt, smoothly caressing my lower-back, causing my spine to arch and my body to press closer into his.

His previously closed eyes opened to meet mine, dark azure meeting emerald as he fixed his gaze. I continued to push my body closer, urging him to continue, but he let a small smirk creep onto his lips as he watched me wriggle in his tight grasp. He slowly licked his lips whilst focusing on mine, his eyes hungry, but not just for lust; for something I couldn't quite work out. I didn't spend long trying to figure it out though, because he soon leaned forward again, pushing his lips against mine. I immediately kissed back feverously, pulling my arms up so that they were clinging around his neck.

He was leaning down quite far at this point to make up for the height difference, so as I continued to push towards him, he pulled me down as he flopped onto his bed, sitting upright and at eye level as I wrapped my legs around his waist and sat on his lap, not breaking the kiss for a single moment. His hands were still tightly holding onto my waist, his fingers gently stroking the bare skin underneath my shirt. At one moment, his finger flicked against an especially sensitive part in the arch of my back causing me to flinch against him and gasp sharply.

He quickly took it as an opportunity to slip his tongue into my mouth, flicking it against my own teasingly. My arms gripped tighter around his neck and I used my own tongue to push back against his, attempting to get dominancy. Everytime I did, however, he would smirk into the kiss and touch that certain spot on my back that would cause me to jerk against him and snatch a sharp intake of breath giving him the chance to regain power. Eventually I gave in, letting him invade my mouth and search curiously as I let the taste of him linger on my lips.

My breathing was quick and my heartbeat was racing as our bodies moved against each others, the rhythm synonymous as our hips rolled in time with the other's. I could feel my entire body heating up, my face burning red as Craig continued to kiss me passionately. I could also feel his fingers still lingering around my hips, his nails scratching gently at my flesh, slowly moving lower, brushing against the top of my jeans causing my breathing to become even more rapid, especially as I could also feel his own doing the same thing.

"Kyle, you're mine, okay? If those smug assholes come anywhere near you again I'm going to make sure they fucking regret it," he murmured quietly, pulling away for a moment and leaning his forehead against mine, his eyes shut and his breathing heavy.

"I thought I was technically Tweek's?" I asked with a small smirk, referring to the whole birthday present situation.

His eyes opened slightly, looking into my own through thin slits, though I could see the sincerity inside of them, "You're Tweek's friend," and if it was possible, he pulled my body even closer into his, speaking just before he pressed his lips against mine once again, "But you're _mine_," and with another smirk into the kiss, "Princess."

* * *

***fangirl squeals* ahhhhnsjakasbvaijbvae;gar;gjaufjomfgjfc**

**I'm not that great at kissy scenes, but I actually had fun writing this, so hopefully you found it okay to read!**

**Possessive Craig. I like it.**

**THE RETURN OF THE PRINCESS. *more squeals***

**~YOUR REVIEWS WOULD MEAN **_**THE WORLD**_** TO ME SO, PLEASE?**

**(Plus if you have any interest in this story and don't find it relevant to comment on this absolutely crucial part in this story, then I take that as you not really caring about what's happening because HOLY SHIT WHAT JUST HAPPENED.)**

**I love you all, okay? **

**^.^**

**XXX**

**(And sorry again for making Stan's gang look like such assholes, but if they weren't, this story would be pretty pointless.)**


	25. The Bites

Craig

As I woke up on the next morning, I let out a quiet yawn, burying my head further into the soft head of curls and hugging tightly onto the body that was positioned in front of me. My head was both spinning and pounding at the same time, but I didn't really care all that much, the night before was totally worth it.

Because maybe after I'd previously claimed Kyle as mine and we'd been making out for what seemed like a blissful eternity, I found a few cases of beer stashed behind some of the other random crap my family had thrown in that motherfucking shed. And maybe we both had a bit too much to drink. Kyle especially. And so _maybe_ that meant that I got even luckier later into the night. Or maybe not.

Kyle was off his fucking face after we found those cans of beer. With the combination of pent up emotions and just general confusion, he took a can from me enthusiastically, opening it straight away and chugging about half of it in one go. When I asked him if he could handle it, he frowned at me, taking another long gulp. I rolled my eyes at him, but let him continue; I wasn't in the position to lecture him on getting drunk.

I knew for a fact that Kyle wasn't a drinker. The rare times that both their groups had been at the same parties without one of us causing some kind of argument with the other, I'd see Stan, Kenny and Cartman all wasted whilst Kyle just stood and watched, ready to make sure they didn't all kill themselves by the end of the night. So when he got to the bottom of one can and demanded another, I could tell that he was already intoxicated. And it wasn't like he was one of those really chilled drunks like I usually am, no, he was one of those really happy, giddy drunks who basically laughs and giggles at everything you say and do.

I waited a while until I had finished my own first can before reluctantly handing him another one which he snatched more than enthusiastically. I drank at _least_ once a week, usually more, and so the affects of the drink didn't get to me that much anymore, I was used to it. He drank the second one just as quickly as the first before crawling over from where he was sitting on the camp bed so he was sitting on my lap, draping his arms around my neck and shoving his head into the crook of my neck and nuzzling softly with his fiery locks. I could hear his muffled laughter as he purred quietly.

"Jesus Christ, Kyle. Is that all it takes to send you over the limit?" I asked with an eye-roll, hugging him closer to me anyway.

"I think I was meant to be a cat," he giggled quietly, continuing to snuggle against me.

"No, actually, you're a princess."

"Can I be a princess cat?"

I sighed lightly, "Okay Kyle, you can be a princess cat."

He chuckled loudly as he pulled his head up and crashed his lips against mine, kissing me sloppily whilst still letting his laughter out. I didn't mind much, I'd much rather have a drunken happy Kyle than a sad sober one.

After another sloppy make out session, I couldn't help but let my hormonal urges get the better of me. My body was heated and so was his and so I took my shirt off, letting him drunkenly absorb the glory that was my bare chest. He eyed me curiously for a second, before bursting out into a bout of laughter. I shook my head with a deep sigh, proceeding to unbutton his and pull it off of him. He pouted at me playfully and so I took that as my queue to resume my position attaching myself to his face, but as I got a bit too into it and my hands began to travel further downwards on him, he pushed me away and rolled off of me and flopped backwards onto my bed, only narrowly missing banging his head off of the metal edge of it.

"I may be intoxicated, but that does not give you the opportunity to take advantage of my suggestible state. I'd be a lot happier with you if you wanted to 'have your way with me' when I was of sound mind, thank you very much," he spoke slowly and articulately, making me question whether he was actually drunk or if he was just putting some kind of act on.

But then he burst out laughing again two seconds later making me dismiss all previous doubts. He was totally fucking wasted. But not wasted enough to let me 'have my way with him'.

"Goddamn it, princess, why-"

"Princess cat."

I cocked my eyebrow at him before heaving a light-hearted sigh, "Fine. Goddamn it, princess cat; why is it that even when you're drunk you have to hold on so tightly to your fucking morals?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment, "The last time I had a lot to drink, Cartman nearly made me make out with him apparently. But we were piss-drunk, so it wasn't that big of a deal. It was a bet or something and I lost so I was supposed to make out with him. And I was going to do it. But then I puked all over him and he freaked out and I didn't ask what happened after that. All I know is that the next day I couldn't remember any of it and I had to get Kenny to fill me in on everything. So basically, I'm making sure I don't do anything that I would end up forgetting in the morning that would be worth remembering."

He smiled over at me, still lying down as he giggled to himself. If his giggle wasn't so cute I probably would have told him to shut up by that point, but it was, so I let him off. I pulled myself over so that I was lying down in front of him, our bodies facing each other's, cramped up close on the single-person camp bed that was pretty small anyway.

"Hey, Craig?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you know..." he shuffled closer to my body, his hands clutching at my bare torso, "That some cats like to bite?"

I quirked my eyebrow in confusion, but I didn't even have time to question it before I felt his teeth nip sharply on my earlobe. I inhaled sharply as I felt him continue to do so, his tongue occasionally flicking along the flesh before he nibbled at me. His mouth was moving downwards, starting at my ear and going along my jaw, down my neck and then my chest. It felt _so_ good.

"_Shit_," I inhaled sharply as he bit down extremely excitably on my fucking nipple, causing my body to jerk upwards at the feeling, gripping at the edges on the bed tightly.

I glanced at him and he had a shit-eating grin on his face, his sharp teeth in a wide smile for me to see before he continued to nip at my sensitive flesh. I was going freaking crazy; it wasn't much, just a few bites, but something about just made it feel so amazing that I couldn't really focus properly on anything but the sensation that was rippling through me. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was fact that I was horny as fuck or maybe it was just that it was Kyle and just a simple touch of the hand was enough to give me tingles, having him do this was just too much for me to be able to be able to keep my thoughts in order.

If you haven't worked it out yet, I was seriously fucking hard by that point. Like past the fucking point that I could turn back. I let out a quiet groan, knowing that he wasn't going to let me fuck him. He was a freaking cock-tease and he knew it, that's what was so infuriating about it. I could see it in his eyes; he knew exactly what he was doing to me, even if he wasn't fully lucid at the time.

"Jesus Christ, Kyle just get to my fucking dick already!" I eventually cried out as his tongue travelled around my nipple and he bit it again.

His eyes flickered up to mine, seeing the frustration. And then he moved away from my chest and his face was back to being level with mine, a smile dancing on his lips. He bit his bottom lip as he kept eye contact, before moving forward and biting onto mine. I could feel the smirk on his face before his tongue slipped into my now open mouth and he started to kiss me aggressively. I couldn't even find the willpower or energy to fight back and just returned it; I was mentally exhausted.

Eventually, I saw him yawn loudly. He flopped down next to me, his head against my chest as he sleepily murmured, "Why are we in the shed anyway? Can we go to your room now? I'm tired..." he yawned again, his lips pursed as his eyes began to flutter closed.

"We can't go to my room; I got kicked out of the house. I live in this dump now," I sighed wriggling around trying to get comfortable, but it's pretty hard when your dick is getting squashed under the fabric of your jeans, "And what are you talking about anyway? Are you planning on staying here or something...?"

"Well yeah, of course I am. I don't have much choice now, dude. I can't let my mom see me like this; she'll kill me and then probably declare war on the CEO of the beer company or something. 'HOW DARE YOU SELL SOMETHING THAT COULD POSSIBLY GET TO MY SON AND MAKE HIM DRUNK; YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!'" he muttered loudly, obviously now half asleep and not really paying attention to what he was saying.

He had probably worn himself out with all the crying and the vigorous kissing. Plus it was pretty late too. But he was right, I couldn't let him go home to his mother, she would most likely do everything Kyle said she would, as well as coming after _me_ and chopping my balls off. And that really wasn't a thought I found particularly pleasant.

"Fine, you can stay here. But don't complain if I push you under the bed to hide you if anyone comes near here. And don't you dare go wandering in the middle of the night, dude. If someone catches you out here, I'm not sticking up for you," I shook my head playfully, standing up and stretching with a yawn as I felt him gripping onto my hand with lidded eyes.

I was pretty tired myself, but there was no way I could get to sleep with my lower half in the state it was. Picking up my can of beer, I took a long chug to finish it and threw it to the ground before making my way to the door.

"Where are you going?" he murmured sleepily, not really sounding like he actually gave a crap.

"To finish the fucking job..." I flipped him off and walked out into the garden, going behind the shed so I was out of view from anyone. I didn't really care that someone could come and catch me, it had to be done and I wasn't giving a drunken Kyle the smug satisfaction of seeing me do it.

When I had eventually 'relieved' myself, I came back in to find Kyle sound asleep, body sprawled out across the bed in the most leisurely way possible leaving no space for me to get on too. But it didn't matter, I was tired, but I wasn't planning on going to sleep just yet.

Taking another can of beer, I slumped down and sat with my back against the wall, watching the redheaded boy sleep. Yes, that might sound creepy, but I didn't really care. I didn't care about anything at all apart from Kyle. It felt like he was all I had left, and he claimed that I was all he had. And so we were set. He was mine and I was his and we'd stay together and nobody could come between us because that was it, we were done with everyone else. From that day it would just be us two. I could enjoy the rest of my life clutching at the one I'd been infatuated with for months.

Wait, what?

Months? I shook my head with a frown, confused at the statement my own mind had conjured. But then I took a moment to stop and analyse it as best I could whilst under the influence and started to realize there was some truth in it. Maybe I hadn't realized it at the time, but for a very long time I had been watching Kyle. Watching, wondering, waiting. Waiting for my chance to stop looking from a distance and to try to grab the opportunity to have him for myself. Well now I'd done it. I'd tried disguising it as something else, but deep down I probably knew what I really wanted, even if I couldn't admit it. He had always been such an enigma to me. Someone that confused me, intrigued me, and was the focus of a lot of my thoughts. He was never like the rest of them. He was less annoying. Less enraging. Less stupid. More cute.

Taking another chug, I let my eyes wander over his body, still wanting nothing more than to just pounce on him. But I controlled myself and just watched him lying there peacefully. It was still hard to actually believe that this was happening, that I had him all to myself, but I definitely wasn't going to question or complain about it.

After drinking myself to a point where I could barely stand up straight, I heaved myself up, nearly dropping the entire contents of a poorly constructed shelf on top of me and slumped onto the bed, gently nudging Kyle to the side to make some room. I held him tightly in my arms, allowing myself to drift off to sleep in that perfect position, his soft, curly hair my pillow, the sound of his quiet, slow breathing my lullaby.

In the morning whilst I still had Kyle in my embrace, I had awoken before him and so I got about another half an hour of just cuddling with him, my mind wandering, going over everything that had happened in the last two weeks.

"W-what's going on...? Where am I?" Kyle began to stir, his arms pushing against me as he lifted himself up in the bed.

"Morning, princess," I grinned at him, leaning on head on my fist as I watched his eyes dart around helplessly, dazed and confused about what was happening.

As he heard my voice, he let out a quiet squeal and pushed away from me quickly, falling the short distance from the creaky bed onto the hard boarding beneath us. His eyes were wide as he stared at me, but then were even wider (if that were possible) when he seemed to come to the realization that we were both half naked. He patted his body quickly to see just how much clothes he had on. He had everything on below the waist, but he still freaked out, clutching at his chest to try and cover himself as he shuffled around on his knees looking for his clothes.

"Jesus Christ, Kyle. What's the big deal?" I asked letting out a yawn and being able to stretch out fully for the first time for the entire time we had been sleeping.

"Wha- W-what happened? Where's my shirt?" he clasped at his head for a moment in confusion, frowning with a light groan as he continued to shuffle, "Fuck. What did you do to me?"

"Me? Hey, dude, I didn't do anything to you. You're the one who practically forced me to give you the beer and got yourself wasted," I replied with a frown, adding in a lower voice, "You're fucking lucky I let you keep your pants on."

"What?" I wasn't sure if he heard me or not, but I chose to dismiss it. I was kind of pissed off; I had assumed he probably wouldn't remember the night, but it didn't even seem like he knew why he was here in the first place.

"Do you even remember why you came here...?" I decided I'd ask and make sure; 'He had better remember; I'm not losing him again this easily'.

"Um..." he appeared to ponder it, eventually finding his shirt in the corner of the shack and pulling it over his head as his face still showed immense concentration, "Well, I remember I was upset about something and then I came to your house, but your sister said you were out here," he glanced around and scowled, "And then... And then you let me cry on you and told me everything was going to be okay..." his voice quietened as he locked eyes with me as his cheeks tinted, "And then we kissed."

"Damn straight, we did. It was a lot more than that though."

"What...?" his face began to burn even brighter as he glanced down at his body again, probably trying to work out why his ass wasn't burning from a good butt-fucking.

He began to just stare at me blankly, his eyes twitching as he searched mine quizzically, "Dude... Don't worry, we didn't do anything too extreme. We didn't do anything like that. You went a bit sabre-toothed tiger and starting biting the shit out of my fucking nipples, but that's about it."

All of a sudden his eyes blinked and he seemed to have a bit more life in them, obviously feeling a bit of relief at that thought, but soon his eyes dropped down to my bare chest and his expression almost went back to the exact same state. What the hell was wrong with him now? I followed his vision and glanced at myself, seeing nothing out of the ordinary that would make him feel that way. But then I stopped and actually paid attention and saw the giant bruise that was now fading slightly that had dyed my stomach. Oh yeah. Kyle still didn't know my side of the story of what his friends had done to me at that party. Well. His ex-friends. Ha.

He crawled towards me as I sat up straight with my legs off of the edge of the bed, biting his lip anxiously. His fingers gently smoothed over the darkened patch, going in a circular motion as he observed it. I guess that's why I was so sensitive to those small bites to my torso; my body was still recovering from previous damage. Before I could ponder that any further, his hand travelled upwards and he clasped my neck in his hands before placing a finger on the healing scar from when they had busted my lip open.

"Wh-" he started to speak in a whisper, but I didn't allow him to finish.

"Kyle, just leave it. Before you start asking questions, it's no big deal, I don't want to talk about it."

"Bu-"

"No, Kyle."

He frowned at me, but I ignored it. I wasn't going to ruin the day by getting pissed off at those memories. I wanted to just leave it in the past and forget all about it. It wasn't like it mattered anyway, because now I'd won and there was nothing those fuckers could do about it.

"You're so fucking stubborn," he sighed, rolling his eyes at me.

"Well I guess that makes two of us then," letting out a light laugh, I held his chin in my hands and pressed my lips against his.

It wasn't an attempt to get my tongue in his mouth or for it to lead to anything else; it was just a simple little kiss just to see. To see if how he'd react and if it was the same as the night before. At the contact, I felt his lips curl into a smile before he kissed back gently and then pulled away. His cheeks were tinted as he stared at the ground and I couldn't help but smile. He was so cute. And definitely still mine.

* * *

**A/N: OKAY RIGHT NOW I'M GOING TO TELL YOU WHY NOTHING TOO EXCITING HAPPENED WHEN THEY WERE DRUNK:**

**Because I suck.**

**That is my only reasoning I think. I've just never attempted writing any of that stuff properly yet and I know if I did it would be terrible and I don't want to ruin the story by adding cringe-worthy scenes in. I'm sorry guys, but I really am not in the right mindset right now to write anything hotter than that and I would prefer to have none than something absolutely terrible. But you can totally imagine anything more interesting happening yourself if you want! Aha.**

**Also fair warning, subsequent chapters may not have a very regular upload time, but they will be done and I have no intention of giving this story up so if it seems like a while since I've put a new chapter up, it will be soon so don't worry.**

**Any reviews would be awesome, I love them and I love all of you :D**

**^.^**

**XXX**


	26. The Paint

A/N: Some days in the future, but not many (about a week, on the Monday I guess):

* * *

Kyle

His arm was thrown around my shoulders and his weight was leaning against me, his eyes looking into mine cunningly, that little glint in the corner, proving his cockiness. I could do nothing but hold the stare and hope that he would show me some kind of mercy and change his mind about the whole thing. But who was I kidding? This was Eric Cartman we were talking about.

"So, Kahl, are you ready?" his words were laced with arrogance and what I could only interpret as a sense of actual excitement.

"No."

"Well that doesn't matter, we made a deal. Craig was planning something, you lost."

"But he wasn't planning anything _against_ _us_, even though he did have an idea of whatever outcome he wanted to happen," I retorted quickly, trying to think of every excuse I could.

"You're forgetting that another part to the bet was that you claimed Craig was going to try and make friends with Stan and Kenny, which he obviously hasn't and isn't going to do."

That was true, and I had no real response to that. "There's still a chance that they could make a truce, it isn't too late for that..." It probably was, but I had to try and entertain the idea to get myself out of the situation.

Cartman opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. He took his arm off of my shoulder. He blinked his glance away. Found something new to focus his attention on. It was the broom that was lodged into the door handle to stop it from being able to be opened from the outside of the janitor's closet that we were standing in. He moved over to it, tapped on it firmly to see if it would move, but it stayed firmly in position. A toothy grin spread across his face whilst a frown spread across mine.

I know what you're thinking: 'Why did you go in there with Cartman, Kyle,' 'You should have known he was going to lock you in, Kyle,' 'You are such an idiot, Kyle.'

But what you need to know is that I didn't know I was going to end up in that position, he literally grabbed me from the hallways and dragged me in there before I had time to react. His hand had slapped over my mouth to stop any screams of confusion and his other was held around my body to pull me along as easily as possible. It's a wonder nobody else saw anyway, but it was the end of the school day and most people were too busy trying to get out as soon as possible to notice me getting kidnapped by the fat ass.

"Kahl, you can't say I haven't been fair to you. Look how much time I've given you to mentally prepare yourself for this. I could have done this as soon as I had my own proof, but no, I let you slowly piece it together yourself and even given you the time to start dating that fucking kid, and now all I want in return for my generosity is for you to uphold your side of the bet. Is that really so much to ask?" I wanted to punch his teeth out, those two rows of pearly whites being presented to me between a broad smile as I watched his slow movements.

I had no other choice. I had no other option. He was blocking the one exit of the tightly spaced room, no one would be able to come in and help me because it was jammed, and the height difference between Cartman and I had increased quite a lot over the years and so attempting to fight my way out wasn't something I could do either. I was just going to have to face up to my forfeit and accept once and for all that I had lost.

I felt the slight sting of the hard ground as I let my body relax from its tense state and drop myself to my knees. I didn't even let myself think as he patted me on the head patronizingly and beamed down at me. My mind was completely blank as he began to unbuckle his belt and fiddle awkwardly with the zipper of his pants. I stared mindlessly into the empty space in the corner of the room as I felt him move closer towards me. This was it. This was the moment he had been waiting for and I had been dreading. All in the name of him being able to humiliate me and say that he'd finally won.

But then I heard a noise. It was my phone. It was a beep. And I knew that specific beep. That was Craig's beep. I had completely forgotten that my phone was in my pocket and wished I had realized earlier so I could have messaged someone to try and get me out, but now the message tone had been made, Cartman snatched it away from me before I could read it.

"I bet that's your faggy little boyfriend texting you now, huh?" Cartman sneered a little as he grabbed the phone out of my jacket pocket and glanced at the screen, "Maybe I should reply and tell him you're too busy sucking my balls to meet up with him. I'm so sorry for breaking up your hot date plans, Jew, but duty calls."

The sarcasm in his words was present as he threw my phone down on the ground somewhere next to me with a deep sigh, not actually going through with sending the message to Craig. I wasn't sure why he sighed, if anything I thought he'd find amusement in keeping me trapped in there and unable to get to the person he knew I'd go straight to after this entire ordeal was over.

I hadn't said anything to anyone about dating Craig (and neither had he), especially not to Cartman. But as much as I hate to say it, he's a smart guy. He obviously knew something was going on between Craig and I, despite our lack of revealing anything. We hadn't done anything to make it seem like we were romantically linked, in fact most people in school thought that I was only still hanging around with him out of pity and although that obviously wasn't true, I was more than happy to let them believe that and let out relationship stay secret for a while.

I scrambled around on the floor looking for where he had dropped my phone, finding it hard to see due to the dimness of the light in there, but just as I found it I felt two large fists grab at my jacket collar. I was dragged upwards to a point where my eyes were levelled with Cartman's, only the tips of my feet still touching the floor as I was held up by his own strength.

It was quiet for a moment. He was back to just staring at me, searching my eyes as I stared back challengingly. I considered saying something, but I assumed he might have something to say first. But no, he just stayed still, my body hanging in his grasp whilst I waited for him to do something. Eventually I ran out of patience and was about to ask him what the hell he was doing, but the moment my mouth opened I felt his grip on my collar tighten and him pull me closer to him. I could feel his unusually fast breathing against my face and his nose brushing against mine with every breath he took.

"So is that it? You're gay for Tucker now and you just forget about me?"

Stunned, I stayed silent before slowly stammering, "W-what?"

"You don't need that fucking douchebag, you've got me and Stan and Kinny! What has that asshole got that we haven't got?"

"Well for starters, he doesn't lock me in a fucking janitor's closet demanding I suck his balls before dangling me in mid-air," I huffed.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, he let go of my collar and I fell onto my feet, taking a few moments to regain my balance. It didn't mean that he moved to a position that would allow me to move though; he was still blocking the door and now had his arms folded across his chest.

"Why would you just sell us out like that?"

"_Me_? Selling _you_ out? You're the one who was spying on me and Craig, and you guys were the ones who made me choose!"

"You were supposed to choose _us_!"

"Why?"

"Because... just because, Kahl!"

"No, give me a good fucking reason! All you do is treat me like shit, so when someone comes along that actually does give a crap about me, why would I choose you over him?"

"It's just the way it's always been, you can't just leave us for him! You belong with us!"

I couldn't help but scoff. Was he being serious? Why would he _want_ me around, he hated me. Or at least that was what I thought, because as he had rightly stated, that's the way it had always been.

"Well maybe I don't want it to be like that anymore, I've had enough of all the bullshit you guys get me into. Craig-"

"I don't care about Craig, I care about-" he stopped mid-sentence before shaking his head, "That doesn't even matter. What about Stan, huh? He's your supposed super best friend, but you can just walk away from him so easily?"

I wanted to know what he had stopped himself from saying, I was curious to know what he supposedly cared about, but I got distracted by his second point, "Stan doesn't care, if he really cared about me he would just want me to be happy, he wouldn't force me to choose who I wanted to be friends with. Why can't you just all get along, why can't you just accept that things would be better if you weren't always at war with each other? It would make life so much easier without you guys constantly at each other's fucking throats, but your heads are so far up your own asses that you're blind to that. And before you even fucking comment on me taking sides with Craig, that is towards both of our groups. This rivalry thing makes you all just as stupid as each other."

"Well you can't blame us for Tucker's stupidity, if he hadn't started this in the first place then this wouldn't have escalated so far. "

I frowned, "Wait, I know I just said I wasn't taking sides, but you honestly don't believe that Craig started all of this do you? He is not the one in the wrong here; Stan was the one that started it."

"The fuck? No he wasn't, Kahl! You weren't even there, how would you know that?"

"Tweek told me-"

"That spaz doesn't know what he's talking about, he was barely there either! Dude, it was Craig, he just started shouting and arguing with us for no reason."

"No reason? Obviously if Person A's friend is in a state where he is crying because Person B told said friend that he was too chubby to be on the football team, that is going to piss Person A off. Craig had every right to be angry!"

"You constantly call me fat, since when did you care about anyone's feelings when it came to appearance? Because you are sounding like such a fucking hypocrite right now, Kahl."

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. It was a valid point, but not one I was going to let him use to win the argument, "If you didn't rip on me for being Jewish all the time, maybe I wouldn't have to do that! Clyde's never done anything to me, so-"

"Oh really? Because I'm pretty sure you have been affected by their fucktarded schemes just like we have."

"But that was collectively as a group. I was only roped into being a part of that by association; they have no problem with me now I'm not constantly with you guys. When I'm with them they don't feel the need to look down on me or call me stupid names or-"

"What is your fucking point, Kahl?" he suddenly butted in with a frown, looking like he was running out of patience.

"My fucking point is that Clyde's feelings didn't deserve to be hurt because he's a nice guy and Stan could have gone about telling him in a much better and more tactful way, and so you guys should just apologize and put this shit behind you."

He looked slightly thoughtful for a moment, "Wait, so what you're saying is that when you call me fat, it's because I deserve it?"

"Well, yeah."

The tension that was in his previous scowl was suddenly released, all his features relaxed except his eyes which unpredictably widened. There seemed like there was a slight hurt in his eyes, unexpected hurt, as if that simple statement really got to him. But then a split second later his eyes were narrowed again and he was back to being the same angry brute I had known all my life. He grabbed my jacket collar again and I once again felt my feet lifted off of the ground. It was quite annoying how easy it was for him to do that actually. He looked into my eyes, his own dark and murky, his grip getting tighter, and his nails scratching through the material and digging painfully into my skin.

"C-Cartman... you're hurting me..." I attempted to plea, but all that did was cause him to snarl.

"Maybe you deserve it?" he suddenly dropped me again, or more accurately threw my limp body to the ground, "You disgust me, you fucking faggot."

Before I could even respond, he removed the broom from the door and left, slamming it behind him, leaving me sat silently by myself, trying to come up with some logical explanation as to what had just happened.

I ran my fingertips gently over the slight indentations he had now made on my neck with a sigh. There was probably no point in trying to decipher the happenings, I had had years of knowing Cartman, and yet I still felt like I barely knew him at all. All I knew was that he was a psychopathic jackass and there was no way I would choose him over Craig.

Finding my phone on the floor beneath me, I checked the message I was yet to receive. Or in fact, messages. There was quite a few, but I assume the sound of Cartman and I arguing must have drowned out the quiet noise of the message tone.

*waitin 4 u. where r u.*

*i'm gonna leave without u princess.*

*fuck it i'm going home. come 2 my house when ur done with whatever shit ur doin.i need 2 show u something.*

With my course of action pretty much planned out for me already, I stood up, brushed myself off and made my way to my locker, quickly collecting my things before making the trip to Craig's.

* * *

Craig

I didn't have a clue where Kyle was, but it wasn't usually like him to not answer messages unless he had a good reason for it. I assumed he was probably doing something important or time consuming and decided it was probably best just to leave him to it and assume he would meet up with me when he could.

By this time I was allowed back in the house and had my own bedroom back, but I had made a point of ignoring everyone in my house except for Ruby, and even that interaction was pretty sparse. Feeling unwanted in your own home is a horrible feeling, like you are there because you have to be and not because your presence is actually appreciated, but I didn't let it fucking get to me because it's not like I really fit in there or even anywhere to begin with. I was perfectly fine with being on my own, staying in solitude like I was used to.

Now that I was back in my room, I had full access to my usual crap. I had spent most of the time drawing and painting and sketching and generally anything I could with the resources I had available. The ones I had in my room were a lot better than the ones I had been given out in the shed, and so I was taking full advantage of being able to use my usual equipment. But I was getting bored and running out of inspiration. Sure the art I did on pieces of paper was fine, but I wanted to do something different. Something more creative. Something bigger.

I glanced around me and my eyes fell on my 'feature' wall. I had gotten to a point where it didn't even seem like I was the one who had drawn all over it and instead that was just the way it had always been. All those pictures of me and my friends, and then the collection of those stupid assholes too. Thinking about it, I don't see why I ever gave them enough thought to have a part of my wall dedicated to them.

So I was going to put a stop to that.

Running down the stairs and out of the backdoor into the garden, I shot towards the shed and rooted through the things inside. Being inside there so long had given me the ability to find out about all the things that had been stored or hidden in there and so I now knew that there were about six leftover buckets of wall paint in there, just screaming to be used by me. There was blue, cream, purple, green, yellow and a little bit of red and the colours didn't really match very well but at least doing something cool with it would be just the artistic challenge I was look for.

I grabbed them and sprinted back up the stairs, not wanting to run into anyone on the way. When I reached the comfort of my own room, I threw the buckets on the floor as carefully as possible so that they didn't spill out, moved any close ranged items out of the way to stop them getting paint all over them and searched around for a paintbrush.

It didn't take long for me to get bored of doing stroke by stroke painting and I ended up just splashing random parts of the wall with purple paint, covering as much of it as possible in one go until the original wall was barely visible. It was fun, each splash seemed like I was maybe erasing something of my past, but I didn't see anything wrong with that. I'd have more to put on there eventually. The portion of the wall with the assholes was the first to be covered over though, and that was definitely a good thing to put behind me.

My entire shirt was getting covered in paint, but I didn't care. Well that was until I realized that I probably wouldn't be able to get the paint stains out and its not like I had much money to buy any more clothes, and so naturally I decided to take it off as I continued fill in the gaps of the wall with the yellow paint. As well as that, I had my music blasting out and I was completely lost within the moment, my mind no longer seeing this as repainting my wall, but instead as just doing anything and everything my mind felt like doing, immersing myself in what I was doing and not caring about anything else. It didn't take long for the entire wall to be wet and dripping with paint, all of the liquid running into each other but it was still clear to see each individual colour, each individual splash and each individual point of creativity.

It looked pretty fucking cool.

During my time splattering the wall, I finally picked up one of my paintbrushes and decided to use it, gradually making swirling patterns throughout the slowly drying paint, making the colours combine and creating a range of different textures.

"What the hell are you doing?"

I heard a voice behind me, slightly drowned out by the sound of my music, but I chose not to turn around and just flipped them off instead. I didn't give a fuck what my family thought, it was my room and I could do what I pleased, even if it was under my father's roof.

"Don't flip me off, asshole, you told me to come here."

Turning around, I realized that it wasn't a family member standing behind me, but it was in fact my pouting redheaded boyfriend. His arms were crossed and his eyebrows were raised as he looked between me and the wall, but I still refused to acknowledge his question.

The buckets were now spread out around the room, the paint spilling out all over the carpet but I didn't really care much. I weaved my way through them and walked over to Kyle, closing the door behind him before pulling him close and giving him a small peck on the lips. He smiled before wriggling away from me and dropping his bag and jacket on the ground by the door, before once again looking at the state of the room.

"So am I just supposed to pass this off as normal?"

"With the amount of shit you get up to, yes, you probably should."

"It looks like a paint bomb has exploded in here."

I shrugged, it was practically the same thing anyway. I grabbed Kyle again, hugging him tightly. I heard him sigh contently as I felt his own arms make their way around my hips and I couldn't help but let out a laugh and make a quiet comment on how small he really was next to me. He must have heard because he was quick to push me away again before sitting on my desk chair and continuing to stare at my wall.

"I still don't understand why your wall looks the way it does."

"I was bored."

"This is what you do when you're bored?"

"Well you weren't here yet so I had to improvise some kind of second-rate entertainment instead. It was either this or jack off to the thought of you, but I thought I would save that for later so that I could do it whilst high on the paint fumes to make it even better," I laughed, winking at him.

"You are such a jackass," he rolled his eyes playfully and I'm sure I saw his cheeks tint slightly, but he said nothing more on the subject.

Leaning against the wall next to him, I watched his small little movements. Like the way he would rock the chair from side to side slightly, the way he would look away quickly each time I caught him looking at my chest and that cute gleam in his eye as I stretched my arm out to just hold his hand in mine for a moment.

"So do you want to help me?"

"How can I help you? It seems pretty much done now."

"It's only done when I say it's done. So do you want to help me or not?"

"If I get paint on me my mom will kill me."

"Then don't wear a shirt. I swear, you are so stupid sometimes, Broflovski," I stepped towards him and took the bottom of his shirt into my hands, but he slapped my hands away quickly with a frown, the red in his cheeks becoming more prominent, "What?"

"I'm not taking my shirt off."

I sighed, glancing around my room. I saw my own shirt that I had shrugged off in an attempt to stop it getting covered in the splatter of paint, but since it had already been covered in some anyway, I didn't see the point in trying to salvage it anymore. Picking it up quickly I gave it to Kyle and told him to switch shirts, but him being the awkward and stubborn person he is chose to just put it on top of his other shirt instead. I didn't comment though, it seemed a lot easier to just accept it.

Five minutes later the two of us were back to painting the walls. Six minutes later we had begun painting each other.

I don't know what it was about Kyle, but it seemed like everytime we attempted something together it ended up in some kind of massive mess. A fun mess, but a mess nevertheless. There was paint on the walls, the floors, the shirt I had given to Kyle to wear and all over my torso. I felt the cold prickle of one of the brushes Kyle found as he sprawled some kind of writing over my chest. Or at least I thought it was writing until I looked at it after he was done and frowned in confusion. It was just some random numbers and letters. I think it was some equation of some sort. What a fucking nerd.

"So is this what you wanted to show me?" Kyle suddenly stopped and looked up at me.

"What?"

"When you told me to come over you said you had something to show me. I'm assuming it was this, right?"

I stopped to think for a moment, wondering what it was. It wasn't the wall painting because I hadn't been planning to do that when I had sent Kyle the message. I couldn't remember. Well, I could remember, but I couldn't. It was like when you can't think of a word but it is on the tip of your tongue and it is really frustrating because you know you know the word you are looking for is but you just cannot say it because you can't remember what it is at that exact moment of time.

"Fuck," I rubbed my temples in annoyance, "I have no idea."

Kyle raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. It's not like he could say that him coming to my house was a waste of time because we both knew he would end up at my house anyway. Who could resist my idiotic charms? Not Princess Broflovski. He had spent most of the last week coming to my house, even if it was for a short time each day. Some of the days he complained he had too much homework to do and it took a bit of persuasion to get him to come along, telling him we'd do it at my house together, but obviously that didn't ever happen.

"Oh, wait, that's what I wanted to show you," I let out a content sigh, that annoying bugging in the back of my mind finally letting up.

Searching through my piles of paper and random pieces of artwork that had been scattered all over the room, I found a few pieces and handed them to Kyle. He took them from me and flicked through them all, apparently dumbstruck by the sight of them.

"Well?"

"Did you do all of these?"

"Obviously."

"They're really good."

"Thanks."

I'd given him the finished posters for our project together. With all the shit that had gone on in the last few weeks I assumed Kyle had forgotten about it, but I hadn't. I had spent a lot of time drawing and re-drawing and editing and re-editing until everything was perfect, although I still didn't think it was that great. But I guess everyone is their own worst critic and so I left it as it was, especially as we had to have the entire thing ready by the end of the week. It seemed easiest to just give it to Kyle now so that I didn't end up ripping the whole thing up and starting again with so little time left.

"The smell of all this paint is starting to make me a feel dizzy. We should probably get out of here now," after a few more minutes of staring at the posters, Kyle nudged me and motioned towards the door.

I shrugged, "There isn't anywhere else we can go in the house where we won't run into someone. Actually, who let you in here in the first place?"

"Ruby let me in. You should stop being a stubborn fuck and just go back to normal terms with her. There was nothing she could do about your dad being a dick and not letting you in the house. But fine, I'll just go home and leave you to sort that out."

"Whatever, dude. I'll walk you home, though," I didn't want to talk to Ruby, not because she had done anything wrong, but because I knew she would try and get me to start talking to my parents again. It wouldn't be that bad if she wasn't so good at manipulating me by making me feel bad, "Give me my shirt back, dude."

"Wait... Craig, I have to ask your advice on something..." as Kyle pulled my paint splattered shirt back over his head and gave it back to me, he stopped me from leaving the room.

"What?" I tried to keep my voice monotonous as usual, but there was a sudden change in atmosphere as soon as the words left his mouth, as though whatever he was going to say was something important or at least needed some kind of concern.

"I don't think it was that big of a deal really, it was probably just me over-thinking things, and I guess I shouldn't dwell on it for long because the past is behind me now anyway, and it is kind of irrelevant now with everything that has gone on between us, and sure it might make things awkward but they already are so that's not as big an issue, or maybe-"

"Kyle. Just tell me what it is."

He looked thoughtful for a second but then shook his head slightly, "Actually, forget it. It's fine. Let's go."

I sighed deeply and he walked out the room before I could even respond. When I caught back up with him at the bottom of the stairs, I saw Kyle walk into the other room, say goodbye to my parents the way he did everytime he came over to my house and then leave the house, still looking deep in thought.

"So does this mean you aren't going to tell me whatever it was you were going to ask for my help with then?"

"I didn't ask for your help, I asked for advice, they're different things. But no, it would be better for me to sort it myself."

I didn't understand why he'd keep something away from me if something was bothering him, but then it seemed obvious that it was most likely something to do with Marsh. It made sense that Kyle wouldn't want to tell me because he'd probably assume I'd get angry at whatever it was. That was a fair assessment though because I already felt a tinge of annoyance, but I wasn't sure if that was because of the thought of that asshole, or just generally Kyle's stubbornness being hard to be patient with sometimes. Either way I was going to find out what he did in one way or another.

I didn't persist because I knew there was no way he was going to tell me. The rest of our journey was made in silence, the only sound made being our parting goodbyes. I couldn't even kiss him on the cheek in case someone saw us and our stupid cover was blown. Instead I just got a nod and a smile when we got to his house and he was quickly on the other side of his door with it closed it my face, leaving me to go back into the cold night on my own, ready to spend until dawn roaming the empty streets of the town and forget all my troubles.

* * *

A/N: I know this took long to update. I know. And I'm sorry. Inexcusable. I know. But still. I am sorry.

I have the mentality that they are still honeymoon phasing due to the fact that they are keeping it pretty hidden. But at the same time I see Craig as a pretty affectionate guy under his tough-guy act and Kyle still being all body-shy and stuff. So interpret this chapter as you'd like. I just like the idea of playing in paint and Craig with no shirt on showing his 'glistening masculinity' haha.

Bye, bye, creepy art wall.

Anyway, I also have some other news in that this story is going to have to come to an end soon. And by soon I mean a span of about 1-3 chapters, depending on how many loose ends I still have in this story. From what I know there are quite a few, but I'm not sure exactly which ones people want to know or which ones I can just forget about.

So my question to you guys is: Is there anything in the story that you still want to be explained, followed up, or something you want to happen before it ends (baring in mind I am not changing the rating of the fic for one last chapter) . This would be super helpful because as you can see I am getting a bit slack when it comes to updates and so having something to aim for and knowing exactly what I want to happen will make it a bit easier for me. I know there are a few people who have said that they have read all of it in one go lately, and I greatly appreciate that by the way, and I think to those people you may be able to be the biggest help to me because the story will be fresher in your minds than others, but any and all help and input will be appreciated!

Finally, I hope everyone is having a great start to the new year, and continue to do so throughout the rest of 2013!

^.^

XXX


End file.
